MacKenzie Scott
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
When MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, donated $275 million to Planned Parenthood earlier this year, it broke records. The gift was the largest in the organization’s history from a single donor, a sum meant to bolster Planned Parenthood’s operations just as the anti-abortion movement closed in on its decades-long quest to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The U.S. Supreme Court now appears on the verge of striking down the landmark decision, allowing states to ban abortion outright for the first time in nearly five decades. Though the nation’s wealthiest philanthropists have been giving to reproductive rights groups for decades, the cause constitutes a relatively small portion of overall philanthropic giving. According to the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, $1.7 billion went to reproductive rights nonprofits from 2015 to 2019. That’s 2.2% of the $76 billion from foundations during that time period.
Even less money, $361 million, was earmarked specifically for abortion rights and services, as opposed to other forms of reproductive healthcare. Much of that funding comes from the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, the largest single donor supporting abortion rights in the U.S., according to the NCRP. Funded by investor Warren Buffett, the fourth-richest person in the U.S., and named after his late wife, the foundation keeps a low profile when it comes to its pro-choice giving. Its website doesn’t even mention reproductive healthcare and instead focuses on college scholarships to students in Nebraska. The foundation didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The Gates Foundation is also a big contributor to Planned Parenthood. Since its founding in 2000, the charity has given $81 million to the pro-choice organization. Most of that money went to Planned Parenthood’s international affiliates, according to the foundation’s grants database. The foundation’s U.S. donations to Planned Parenthood, which totaled $14.1 million, stopped in 2007. Though Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates themselves are staunchly pro-choice, a Gates Foundation spokesperson told Forbes their foundation doesn’t fund abortion directly.
“Every woman should have the right to decide whether and when to have children,” the spokesperson said. “Our focus is on ensuring women’s health and access to family planning.”
The Gates Foundation has also given money to pro-life organizations, such as World Vision International, a Christian aid group that promotes other forms of family planning like cycle-tracking and education to help women space out their pregnancies.
Since the Hyde Amendment prevents federal dollars from being used for abortions, providers often turn to philanthropy as their main source of funding. Conversely, Crisis Pregnancy Centers, which seeks to steer people away from abortions, often receive state and federal funding, making them less reliant on private donations.
It’s difficult to make an apples-to-apples comparison of pro-choice philanthropic spending to anti-abortion spending because those funding streams are categorized differently on Candid, the sector’s primary source of foundation data. Candid’s “Right to Life” category, for example, doesn’t capture donations to Crisis Pregnancy Centers, which are categorized under maternal health, prenatal care or other labels, and don’t always operate as nonprofits. According to the NCRP, the National Christian Foundation is the top funder of pro-life groups. As a sponsor of donor-advised funds, it’s not required to disclose either its donors or recipients.
Forbes reviewed tax filings and public grants databases wherever possible to identify billionaires who have donated to pro-choice nonprofits in the U.S since 2000. Here are some of the biggest billionaire donors to date:
Warren Buffett
Net worth: $113.9 billion
Donations: $2 billion
The largest funder of abortion groups in the U.S., the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation has poured $2 billion into the cause since 2000, the earliest year tax filings for the foundation are available. The foundation has given $650 million to Planned Parenthood’s national organization and regional offices as well as $136 million to the National Abortion Federation’s Hotline Fund, which operates the largest abortion referral service in the U.S. In 2020 alone, half of the foundation’s grants, $214 million, went toward pro-choice groups in the U.S.
MacKenzie Scott
Net worth: $32.7 billion
Donations: $300 million
Since divorcing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Scott has become one of the most prolific philanthropists in the world. In addition to the $275 million unrestricted grant to Planned Parenthood, she also donated $25 million to the Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity in February.
Barbara Picower
Donations: $125 million
Barbara Picower, the widow of one of Bernie Madoff’s biggest beneficiaries, is donating the ill-gotten proceeds from the infamous Ponzi scheme to charity. Through the JBP Foundation, Picower is systematically unloading hundreds of millions per year to a variety of causes, including a $40 million donation to the Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity in 2018 and $6.5 million annually to Planned Parenthood. Founded in 2011, JBP is funded by the billions left over from her late husband’s estate after she settled a $7.2 billion lawsuit to compensate Madoff’s victims.
Hewlett Family
Donations: $114 million
Funded by the descendants of late HP cofounder Bill Hewlett, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is among the largest foundations in the U.S., with a $14.4 billion endowment. Nearly every year for the past two decades, the foundation has given money to Planned Parenthood, the National Abortion Federation and pro-choice research firm The Guttmacher Institute. In 2020, $1.8 million, or 2% of its grants, went to groups working to increase abortion access in the U.S. In 2015, Forbes valued the family at $2.3 billion.
Michael Bloomberg
Net worth: $82 billion
Donations: $50 million
In an op-ed published last week, the media mogul and onetime Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg called on Congress to codify abortion rights into federal law. He’s spent $50 million on the issue during his lifetime, including at least $11 million to Planned Parenthood through the Bloomberg Family Foundation since 2015.
George Soros
Net worth: $8.6 billion
Donations: $17.3 million
Through the Open Society Foundations, Democratic megadonor George Soros makes regular contributions to Planned Parenthood’s political advocacy arm, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. His largest gift to the organization was in 2017 for $10 million.
Lynn & Stacy Schusterman
Net worth: $3.5 billion
Donations: $5.6 million
Run by the widow and daughter of oil billionaire Charles Schusterman, who died in 2000, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies has given money to Planned Parenthood, Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity and If/When/How, a nonprofit that works with law students and lawyers to advocate for reproductive justice.
Sheryl Sandberg
Net worth: $1.6 billion
Donations: $2 million
The Facebook executive made a pair of $1 million donations to Planned Parenthood in 2017 and 2019. After the draft decision on Roe was leaked, Sandberg wrote in a Facebook post that “one of our most fundamental rights will be taken away” if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
Elaine Wynn
Net worth: $1.6 billion
Donations: $1 million
The casino magnate donated $1 million to Planned Parenthood in 2017 after the Women’s March on Washington. Wynn told Fortune at the time that “as a woman, a mother and a grandmother, I’m proud to do what I can to help protect access to reproductive health care.”
