Warren Buffett donates USD 2.1 billion to charity, largest in 2014

Warren Buffett has made the largest philanthropic donation of this year by giving $2.1 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the form of 16.6 million shares of his company, Berkshire Hathaway.

According to global wealth intelligence and prospecting company Wealth-X, Buffett topped the list of the 10 biggest single charitable donors of 2014.

GoPro Founder, CEO and Chairman Nicholas Woodman was ranked second on the list as he along with his spouse donated $497.5 million to Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

Eight of the top 10 donations were made by American philanthropists. Hong Kong real estate tycoons Ronnie and Gerald Chan are the only non-Americans to appear on the list.

The billionaire brothers were ranked third and fourth on the list by collectively giving a $350 million gift to Harvard University, the largest ever in the school's history.

Harvard also received a $150 million donation from hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin to support financial aid. Griffin was ranked fifth on the coveted list.

Among other contributions, Gert Boyle's $100 million donation to Oregon Health & Science University was ranked 6th on the list followed by John Morgridge at the 7th place ($100 million to University of Wisconsin-Madison), John Jay Jordan at 8th rank ($75 million to University of Notre Dame).

The top 10 largest philanthropic donations of 2014 also include: Edward Meyer at 9th rank ($75 million donation to Weill Cornell Medical College) and Charles Munger at the 10th place ($65 million to University of California Santa Barbara).

Six of the top ten donations of 2014 were made to educational institutions, two were given to health causes and two went to philanthropic foundations, Wealth-X said.

According to the company, the donated amounts mentioned in its report only took into account donations that have already been made, and did not include pledged amounts.