It’s that time of year when lakes and rivers beckon, fresh air is doubly intoxicating, and fruits taste sweeter than ever.
Summertime is special — and alongside many other forces, philanthropy puts a lot of money toward keeping it that way. Donors, whether institutional or individual, play a key role in preserving natural landscapes, keeping our air clean, and improving our agriculture practices.
As the season gets underway, I’ve assembled a list of American billionaires — whether individuals, couples or families — who are among the largest public donors to U.S. groups working in those areas: conservation, agriculture and curbing pollution. They are drawn from our past reporting and an analysis of Candid data conducted by IP for a soon-to-be-released survey paper on this segment of philanthropic grantmaking.
It includes ultra-wealthy individuals who oversee some of the most well-known foundations in this space, as well as several who have lower profiles but a concrete commitment to one or more of these issues.
Unsurprisingly, many names match those that I assembled late last year of American billionaires funding climate action. The distinctions between these fields are thin, if not academic, in certain cases. How food is grown, for instance, is inextricably linked to climate change.
Yet for the purposes of trying to classify where grant money is going, this list offers a glance at some of this corner of philanthropy’s deep-pocketed donors. Read on for quick primers on those that rise to the top.
The Walton family
America’s richest family has long put a portion of the Walmart fortune to work for the environment through their joint foundation, the Walton Family Foundation. The $6.7-plus billion grantmaker is known for its support of waterways, with a focus on the Colorado and Mississippi rivers, as well as for backing market-oriented efforts on agriculture and fishing. It also ranks among the top funders of animal and wildlife preservation, based on our analysis of Candid data.
Two family members deserve special mentions in this section. One is Lukas Walton, whose foundation, Builders Initiative, is an emerging force in this area. The Chicago-based grantmaker counts food and agriculture as one of four priorities. With a fortune Bloomberg puts at $20.5 billion, the 35-year-old could make a big splash in the years ahead.
The other is Rob Walton, one of the four children of Sam and Helen Walton, and his wife Melani. While they do not yet show up on their own in our analysis of top donors, they might soon. The couple’s eponymous foundation has joined several high-profile conservation efforts, including a $5 billion conservation pledge and an effort to preserve 5% of the world’s oceans. While most, if not all, of that money will fund initiatives abroad, they clearly value environmental protection in the U.S. as demonstrated by their funding for the creation of a wildlife rehabilitation center.
Eric and Wendy Schmidt
This philanthropic power couple — Eric is the former CEO of Google and Wendy serves as president of their foundation — are among the biggest backers of sustainable agriculture, and notable donors to organizations that battle pollution. Grantmaking flows through the $2.2-billion-plus Schmidt Family Foundation, with the foundation’s 11th Hour Project managing much of their environmental work.
The Schmidts, whose fortune Bloomberg estimates at $22.7 billion, juggle several other related efforts. One example is the Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X Challenge, which was set up after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Wendy Schmidt, in particular, has become an active thought leader in the field. Last month, IP published her op-ed on how philanthropy can support agroecology, a holistic approach to farming and its impacts.
Jeff Bezos
While the Amazon founder is a relative newcomer to green funding, the 58-year-old has made a fast start, as one might hope from someone whose wealth is estimated by Bloomberg at $144 billion. His Bezos Earth Fund is focused on the climate crisis, but such grantmaking has myriad overlaps and intersections with conservation, agriculture and pollution funding.
Some of the $10 billion fund’s biggest pledges have been to conservation and agriculture, including $1 billion toward the goal of preserving 30% of the earth by 2030 and $2 billion commitment that will be split between landscape restoration and food systems. Details remain scarce, but if the part-time space traveler follows through, he will rocket to near the top of the sector’s list of mega-donors.
Barbara Picower
The widow of investor and Bernie Madoff backer Jeffrey Picower, the 67-year-old is the donor behind and president of the $4.6 billion-plus JPB Foundation. Admittedly, it’s unclear if she is still a billionaire — for instance, she takes a salary for her work — but her late husband’s net worth is estimated to have peaked at $10 billion. In any case, the environment is one of three pillars of the media-shy grantmaker, which ranks as the largest recent funder of anti-pollution efforts, according to our analysis of Candid data.
The foundation does not invite applications, but being chosen as a grantee is quite a boon. Grants are often six figures and can reach into the millions. JPB has funded organizations battling pollution such as the Bluegreen Alliance Foundation, Earth Day Network and EarthJustice.
Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which this former couple continue to direct jointly, is known for supporting agricultural projects across Africa and South Asia. The foundation does not officially do such work in the U.S., at least according to its website. Yet the volume of its grants that land in the U.S., even if intended to guide efforts abroad, is significant.
Special Mention: Howard G. Buffett
While neither Forbes nor Bloomberg lists this 67-year-old as a billionaire, his grantmaking does rank among such donors within this segment of philanthropy. How does that work? His father, legendary investor Warren Buffett, has reportedly given about $2 billion to each of his children’s foundations. (His sister-in-law and brother, Jennifer and Peter Buffett, were also previously major agricultural donors, though their NoVo Foundation has since shifted priorities.)
However, nearly all of Howard G. Buffett Foundation’s grants in this area go to one organization: the Sequoia Farm Foundation. Both the foundation and its grantee are based in Decatur, Illinois; both are chaired by Howard G. Buffet and share board members (at least as of 2019). In other words, while the Howard G. Buffett Foundation is among the top agricultural funders in our ranking, it’s mostly serving to fund the operations of its sister organization.
Did I miss a billionaire with a passion for conserving land, supporting agriculture or fighting pollution? Let me know.