Being a billionaire doesn't mean spending all your money on super-yachts, designer clothes, and overpriced bottles of champagne. The incredibly wealthy like to give to good causes, and many possess a keen social conscience. But are they as charitable as we might think? We take a closer look at how much money the world's richest people donated in 2018 as a percentage of their entire net wealth.

Walton is the daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton. Her net worth in 2018 was $44.9 billion (£34.5bn), according to Forbes. In 2018, she gifted $120 million (£91.9m) to the University of Arkansas, which is 0.27% of her wealth. However, Walton also runs the Walton Family Foundation, which supports education, economic development, and the environment, and through this is well known as a philanthropist.

In 2018 Zuckerberg’s net worth was calculated at $61 billion (£46.8bn). The Philanthropy 50, in turn, says that he gave just over $213.5 million (£163.5m) to charity in that year. Despite that seeming like a considerable amount, this is just 0.35% of the Facebook founder's amassed net worth.

Ballmer is the former CEO of Microsoft and current owner of the LA Clippers basketball team. As of October last year, his net worth was estimated at $42.3 billion (£32.5 billion) by Forbes. Ballmer gave $295 million (£225.1 million) to good causes in 2018, according to Philanthropy 50, which means that he passed on 0.70% of his amassed fortune.

L’Oréal heiress Meyers is the world’s wealthiest woman, and was worth $49.3 billion (£37.6bn) in 2018 according to Forbes. She gave away $500 million (£382m) of it – 1% – to good causes last year through the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation. 

The net worth of the founder of Amazon was $160 billion (£122.8bn) last year, according to Forbes. Of this, the mogul gave $2 billion (£1.53bn) to charitable causes, according to the Philanthropy 50 list, but this totals just 1.25% of Bezos' net worth. 

The Soviet-born, British-American investor and businessman Sir Leonard ‘Len’ Blavatnik was estimated as having a net worth of $17.9 billion (£13.7bn) last year, according to Forbes. Of this, he donated $278 million (£212.9m) to philanthropic causes, around 1.6% of his total net worth.

One of Google's co-founders, Page’s net worth, according to Forbes, was $53.8 billion (£41.3bn) last year, and he chose to give away $1.5 billion (£1.1bn) of that, according to Business Insider. This represents 2.8% of his total net worth.

The net worth of Schwarzian, chairman and CEO of investment firm the Blackstone Group, was estimated at $13.8 billion (£10.6bn) last year. Of this, the billionaire gave $390 million (£298.6m) to charity, says the Philanthropy 50 list. This represents 2.82% of his overall net worth.

According to Forbes, the co-founder of British betting company Bet365, Denise Coates, was worth $4.1 billion (£3bn) last year. Business Matters states that she donated around $120 million (£91.9m) to charitable causes through the Denise Coates Foundation. This assists charities such as Oxfam, CAFOD, and Alzheimer’s Research UK. Her philanthropy percentage therefore is 2.9% of her total net worth.

As a co-founder of Nike and its current Chairman Emeritus, Knight’s net worth was $33.8 billion (£25.9bn) last year. He has a strong history of donating to charity and in 2018 was reported as giving $1 billion (£767m) to an unnamed charity.  This represents 2.96% of the magnate's total wealth. 

Pierre Omidyar’s net worth was given as $11.6 billion (£8.9bn) at the end of last year. He gave $392 million (£300.2m) to good causes according to the Philanthropy 50 list, meaning that the eBay founder donated 3.4% of his total net worth.

The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway was estimated as having a net worth of $88.3 billion (£67.8bn) last year by Forbes. Since 2000 the billionaire has given away billions, and in 2018 his company released a press release stating that he had donated $3.4 billion (£2.6bn) to five charitable causes, including $2.6 billion (£2bn) to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. For 2018 his philanthopic percentage was only 3.85%, but he has pledged to give away another $37 billion (£28.4bn) – 42% of his 2018 wealth – to the Gates' foundation on his death. There may well be more donations, however, as he has stated that he will give away 99% of his wealth in his lifetime.

The other co-founder of Google, Brin was worth $52.4 billion (£40.2bn) last year. He gave $2.2 billion (£1.68bn) in donations, according to Business Insider, meaning that Brin donated 4.2% of his net worth to good causes.

Co-founder of Microsoft, Gates’ net worth was $97 billion (£74.4bn) last year, according to Forbes, while his charitable donations for the year were estimated at $4.78 billion (£3.67bn) by Philanthropy 50. Therefore, his donations came to just 4.9% of his net worth. However, one year doesn't reflect the true picture of this openly philanthopic billionaire. He runs his own charitable foundation with his wife, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and launched The Giving Pledge in 2010 with fellow billionaire Warren Buffett, where the world’s richest individuals commit to giving away a large percentage of their wealth to charity.

CEO and founder of internet giant TenCent, Huateng’s net worth was $32.8 billion (£25.2bn) last year, making him the second richest person in China. He donated $2 billion (£1.5bn) of this to philanthropic causes, which equals 6.1% of his amassed wealth.

Billionaires with no kids to leave their fortune to

Former hedge fund manager Arnold possessed a net worth of $3.3 billion (£2.5bn) last year, says Forbes. Of this, he and wife Laura donated $204.3 million (£156.4m) to good causes, which is 6.19% of their total wealth.

Texan businessman and environmentalist Bass has been involved in Biosphere 2 (pictured) and its exploration into how humans could survive on Mars. According to this, he donated $160 million (£122.5m) to charity last year. Since Forbes estimated his net worth at $2.4 billion (£1.8bn), this represents 6.67% of the businessman’s total fortune.

The chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies had an estimated net worth of $27.6 billion (£21.2bn) last year. And, according to Business Insider, he donated just over $2 billion (£1.5bn) of this, which makes his percentage of giving in relation to net worth a fairly substantial 7.25%.

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Bloomberg had a net worth of $51.8 billion (£39.8 billion) in 2018, according to Forbes. And CEO World Magazine states that he donated $6 billion (£4.6bn) of this to charity last year, 11.58% of the finance guru's total wealth.

Billionaire consultant Jay Alix of AlixPartners is also a major philanthropist. With his net worth estimated at $1.2 billion (£920m) last year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, this means that the $200 million (£153.1m) he gave away is actually a huge 16.66% of his total wealth.

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