Giving Compass' Take:

• Forbes calculated how generous the top 400 wealthiest Americans have been over their lifetimes. Bill Gates topped the list in total donations, George Soros was the most generous in terms of percent of wealth donated.  

• What are the implications of wealthy philanthropists moving billions of dollars at their whim? 

• Learn why wealthy philanthropists may not be helping as much as they might believe. 

For the first time, Forbes 400 members are ranked not just on their total wealth and on how self-made they are, but also on their generosity. Members of this elite club have been scored on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most philanthropic. List members about whom we could find no charitable giving information received an N.A. (not available).

To come up with the scores, we first estimated each list member’s total lifetime giving. A team of 32 Forbes journalists delved into public filings, from tax forms for private foundations to press releases, and reached out to 400 members and nonprofits as well. Next we looked at what percent of their fortune they had given away. We weighted these two factors equally and scored people accordingly.

Some individuals were then bumped up or down based on several other factors, including whether they had signed the Giving Pledge, whether they had pledged significant donations, how personally involved they were in their charitable giving and how quickly and effectively their private foundations distributed dollars.

Only 29 of America’s 400 richest were given the highest possible score. To get to that recognition, a person had to give away at least $1 billion and/or 20% of their total net worth. There were 36 people, for instance, who gave away $1 billion who didn’t get the top score and another three who gave away less than $1 billion but still earned a score of 5. Notable top givers include Bill Gates, who has donated $35.8 billion to his charitable foundation, more than anyone else in the world; that figure is 27% of his fortune as of September 7, 2018, the day we locked in net worths for the Forbes 400.

In percentage terms, George Soros has donated more than any other Forbes 400 member. In 2017, Soros shifted $18 billion from his Soros Management Fund to his philanthropic network, Open Society Foundations. The move brought Soros’ lifetime giving to a total of $32 billion, or 79% of his wealth.

Read the full article about America's wealthiest individuals by Deniz Cam at Forbes.