It’s another banner year for America’s ultra-rich, with the 400 wealthiest Americans’ fortunes skyrocketing by $1.4 trillion over the past 12 months—a 21% increase. Yet, despite all this new wealth, have the members of The Forbes 400 stepped up their charitable giving?

Forbes once again investigated the lifetime donations of all members of this year’s ranking. We found that, as net worths have risen, charitable giving has not kept pace. These 400 super-rich moguls have collectively given away at least $366 billion to charitable causes over the course of their lifetimes, $47 billion more than last year in sheer dollar terms. But, as a percentage of wealth, The Forbes 400 are actually less charitable than they were a year ago, having given away just 4.4% of their fortunes, compared to 4.6% in 2025 and 5% in 2024.

The Definitive Ranking Of America’s Richest People 2026

Of course, some are much bigger givers than others. That’s why Forbes assigns a lifetime giving score to each member of The Forbes 400 list. The score is calculated by adding our estimates of each member’s lifetime giving to their 2026 net worth and then dividing their lifetime donations by that total. The score ranges from 1 to........

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