For the third consecutive year, Michael Bloomberg landed the No. 1 spot on the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s exclusive ranking of the 50 biggest donors of 2025 . The founder of the Bloomberg financial-news empire and former New York mayor gave $4.3 billion to support arts, education, the environment, public health, and programs to improve city governments . Bloomberg is followed on the Philanthropy 50 list by three donors who each gave $1 billion or more to charity last year. Bill Gates (No. 2)