Remember when people thought “trickle down” economics actually worked? Perhaps if we give a lot more money to the rich it will start working one day, somehow? That seems to be the current plan, but I have another idea: what if we reversed it and used “trickle up” to give money to those most in need? All the data I can find, including our rgmii.org data and studies in progress, all seem to show that this direction works. ⬆️

America’s Richest People Are Not Its Most Generous

Only half of the 12 richest people in the United States are on Forbes' list of the 25 biggest givers. (It's possible that some—including Dell, Page and Huang—have given additional undisclosed sums through donor-advised funds.)

Name	Net Worth	Estimated Lifetime Giving	Percentage of Net Worth		
Elon Musk	$780 bil	$0.5 bil	0.06%		
Larry Page	$270 bil	$0.1 bil	0.03%		
Jeff Bezos	$250 bil	$4.7 bil	1.85%		
Sergey Brin	$249 bil	$5.1 bil	2.01%		
Larry Ellison	$241 bil	$1.0 bil	0.41%		
Mark Zuckerberg	$213 bil	$6.1 bil	2.78%		
Jensen Huang	$162 bil	$0.2 bil	0.11%		
Warren Buffett	$146 bil	$68.3 bil

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeswealthteam/2026/02/09/americas-top-25-philanthropists---and-why-musk-page-and-ellison-arent-on-the-list/
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