Mayor Increases Giving, Drops Among Top Altruists

By JILL GARDINER, Staff Reporter of the Sun | February 20, 2007

Mayor Bloomberg may be increasing the money he is doling out money to charity, but he has dropped on the Chronicle of Philanthropy's venerated list of most generous Americans.

The billionaire mayor ranked ninth on the Chronicle's list of most generous Americans despite giving $165 million to 1,000 organizations in 2006. That was $21 million more than he gave in 2005, when he ranked eighth.

The new ranking is less a reflection on Mr. Bloomberg than on the growth of philanthropy among the wealthiest in the country. According to the Chronicle, a record-breaking 21 Americans donated $100 million or more in 2006, compared with 11 in 2005.

The latest ranking also includes Warren Buffett's historic $43.5 billion donation to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which will be given over time. The Chronicle notes that even without that megadonation, top philanthropists gave $7 billion in 2006 compared with $4.3 million in 2005. The median donation also jumped, to $60 million from $32.5 million in 2005.

Despite making regular national appearances that suggest he is considering a run for president as a third-party candidate, Mr. Bloomberg, whose net worth may be in the $20 billion range, has maintained that he will be a full-time philanthropist when he is forced out of office by term limits in 2009. He has said he plans to give away all of his money before he dies.

Mr. Bloomberg's ranking this year may be skewed by the fact that three people listed ahead of him have died, leaving their large sums of money to be donated through estates.

The Chronicle also lists only what Mr. Bloomberg gave last year, which includes a portion of the $125 million he's pledged to reduce smoking worldwide. It is unclear exactly how much of that was paid to the five organizations he's chosen to do the work, but not all of it was factored into his ranking. The portion included will cover the first two years of operation.

Mr. Bloomberg also gave a large donation to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, for stem cell research, and to the Carnegie Corporation, which has taken on the role of distributing his millions. A complete breakdown of organizations he supported was not available.

A spokesman for the mayor, Stuart Loeser, declined to comment on Mr. Bloomberg's Chronicle of Philanthropy rating.

Mr. Bloomberg is not the only New Yorker or government official on the Chronicle's sixth annual list of top philanthropists. Other New Yorkers include publisher Mortimer Zuckerman (no. 18), businessman Ronald Perelman (no. 30), and a former Citigroup CEO, Sanford Weill (no. 49). Treasury Secretary Paulson, a former chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, tied Mr. Zuckerman at no. 18.

Mr. Bloomberg, who has been on the list four times, also was not the only philanthropist to give more this year but go down in rank.

Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey gave $58.3 million in 2006 compared with $51.8 million in 2005. Nonetheless, she ranked as the 35th most generous in 2006, compared with the 22nd the year before.