The 100 most philanthropic people on the UK rich list - including Elton John and hedge fund managers - gave a total of £3.2billion this year.
Hedge fund manager Sir Paul Marshall, who was knighted in 2016 for his charity work, secured the top spot in The Sunday Times Giving List for giving the highest proportion of his fortune away.
Worth £875 million, he has donated £145.1 million in the past 12 months — amounting to an average of £2.8 million a week.
The co-founder and chairman of Marshall Wace LLP, he gave more than a third of his total giving, £50 million, to LSE.
Among his donations was also a seven-figure sum donation to his local church in Knightsbridge and Tiny Tickers charity, which raises funds for babies with congenital heart disease.
While Marshall comes out top in terms of how much he proportionally give within his net worth - he is far off the number one spot of giving overall.
Fellow hedge fund manager Sir Chris Hohn gave away the most money to a total of £601 million of his £6.1bn fortune.
According to The Sunday Times, Hohn’s Children’s Investment Fund Foundation has a portfolio worth £3.9 billion
Others noted for their charitable endeavours include singer Sir Elton John, who gave away 5.7 per cent of his £470 million fortune this year.
The 77-year-old gave £27 million away in part to the Elton John Aids Foundation which is renowned for it work to prevent the spread of HIV and tackling stigma.
Funds raised have come from his own performances, events and financial contributions. He has also supported other causes through his Elton John Charitable Trust.
The list, which tracks the philanthropic activity of 100 of Britain’s wealthiest people, shows that they collectively gave £3.2bn to charity personally or through their charitable foundations or businesses.
However, this means donating was down by £200m compared to last year.
Some campaigners are calling for the ultra-wealthy to be taxed more rather than rely on giving to charity.
“Rather than increasing philanthropy, we think there needs to be a systemic overhaul in the way the most wealthy are taxed,” Rebecca Gowland, executive director of Patriotic Millionaires, told The Times. “Their contribution needs to be much greater. Giving is not the answer — fairer tax is.”
The Giving List is collated in conjunction with the annual Sunday Times Rich List which named UK’s wealthiest man as businessman Gopi Hinduja, who is worth a staggering £37.2bn — the largest fortune ever featured on the list.
Others featured on the list included King Charles’s, whose fortune has increased by £10 million in the last year to £610 million.
However, the monarch was beaten in the rankings by prime minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty who have also seen their personal fortune surge by £150m to £651 million.
Top ten of 2024’s Giving List by proportion of wealth:
Sir Paul Marshall - £145mn (16.6%)
Alan Parker and family - £376m (11.9%)
Lord Edmiston - £92m (10.6%)
Sir Chris Hohn - £601m (9.9%)
Andrew Law - £67m (7%)
Henry Engelhardt and Diane Briere de l’Isle - £53m (5.9%)
May Makhzoumi and family - £40m (5.8%)
Sir Elton John - £27m (5.7%)
Sir Michael Moritz and Harriet Heyman - £191m (4.1%)
Marit, Lisbet, Sigrid and Hans Rausing - £367m (4%)
