An epitome of human greatness, Jamsetji Tata emerges as the world's top philanthropist of the last centenary

The founder of Tata Group and a legendary persona of the Indian industrial and manufacturing sector, Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata has entered the limelight as the top philanthropist the world has ever witnessed in the last hundred years with whopping generous donations worth $102.4 billion.

Sir Albert Einstein once quoted that every individual is obliged to provide the world with the equivalent of whatever he borrows from it. A human's greatest asset is his emotions that fuels his disruptive mindset, passion, and subconscious to do something worthwhile for the society he inhabits.

While Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata became the top philanthropist to make donations worth $102.4 billion, another great Indian industrialist to rightly bag a position in the list is Shri Ajim Premji who has virtually donated an entire fortune of $22 billion. He has been the chairman of Wipro and has intuitively directed the firm through its forty years of expansion and development.

What led to the Tatas making the world's noteworthy donations to philanthropic causes?

According to a report featuring the rundown of top fifty personas exemplifying human generosity, released by Hurun and EdelGive Foundation, Jamsetji Tata won the top spot by leaving behind imminent American and European philanthropists who may have thought to have a hold on the aspect of humanitarianism in the last century.

An intermingling of empathy and passion to help others for their cause, and the innovative mindset that helps one discover multiple ways to serve society, craves out a true philanthropist from an individual in the long run.

Following this basic philosophy, Jamsetji Tata began donating as early as the 1890s. What's more? He transferred two-thirds ownership of Tata to trusts who are engaged in socially benefitting activities like education and medical care. Obviously, such bountiful funding was ought to make him the world's most generous human being ever. 

Who else has made it to the prestigious Hurun List?

As per Hoogewerf, there are a couple of high-profile names like Alfred Nobel which are not even in the rundown of top fifty philanthropists of the last century, which is quite shocking. 

World’s first-class businessmen like Bill Gates along with his now divorced spouse Melinda who has contributed $74.6 billion to trusts (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), Warren Buffet ($ 37.4 billion), George Soros ($34.8 billion), and John D Rockefeller ($26.8 billion) are all spots behind Tata.

Hurun Research and EdelGive Foundation today released the 2021 EdelGive Hurun Philanthropists of the Century, a ranking of the world’s most generous individuals from the last 100 years.

The father of Indian industry, Jamsetji Tata, tops the list followed by pic.twitter.com/MMBrY0Hkwl

— HURUN INDIA (@HurunReportInd) June 23, 2021

A greater part of about thirty-nine personages on the list are from the States, trailed by five from the UK, three from China. A total of thirty-seven donors have already left for the heavenly abode, while thirteen of them are living the best of their lives!

Driven by Elon Musk with $151 billion, piggybacking on the ascent of electric-vehicles, there are three personalities who added more than $50 billion in a solitary year. The other two are e-commerce business tycoons Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Colin Huang of Pinduoduo who donated $50 billion each. 

"If we continue to see a rising trend like this, we hope to see at least fifty or more quantum leaps in the $100 billion mark within the next half-a-decade," Hoogewerf said.

What is the net worth raised by the donations made by all the philanthropists on the list?

The sum total of all the top fifty world's philanthropists is fixed at $832 billion in the course of the last century, of which $503 billion came from foundation fundings and $329 billion from humanitarian donations to date.

The report is prepared on the basis of Total Philanthropic Value, determined as the worth of the resources adapted to the market inflation and the number of endowments or disseminations to date.  As said by Hurun, the yearly grants by them are currently worth $30 billion, adding that with a gift of $8.5 billion, MacKenzie Scott is the greatest charitable organization.

Hoogewerf added, "The present tycoons are not staying aware of altruism, climbing the ladder of monetary gains a lot quicker than they are parting with it." 

This statement reflects on the sad reality of the utter materialistic approach of the current and upcoming generation. Only those who earn have the potential to give. The earning is not necessarily monetary, it could be anything ranging from skills and knowledge to the passion and zeal to do something for the world.  

Such stories of the world's greatest individuals since times immemorial, who have shown utmost generosity and selfless approach throughout their lives for the service of others, will indeed continue to inspire generations to come. The legacies of people like Jamsetji Tata, Ajim Premji, Bill Gates,  and Carnegie and Rockefeller will continue to teach how the wealth collected ought to be redistributed to the world in different ways.

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