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- Younger billionaires give their money away differently when compared with their older peers, research firm Wealth-X found in its 2019 Trends in Ultra-High Net Worth Giving report.
- Ultra-wealthy people under age 45 are not only less interested in bankrolling museums and theaters than those who are older, but also want to be more personally involved in the organizations they do support.
- Billionaire philanthropists and the institutions they support have faced increasing scrutiny from the public in 2019.
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Public opinion is swinging against billionaire donors, and a new generation of ultra-wealthy people are changing how they give back as a result.
Young billionaires are making philanthropy a more hands-on and transparent process, research firm Wealth-X concluded in its 2019 Trends in Ultra-High Net Worth Giving report. "They are allocating their time and skills
in a way that has not been done before," Wealth-X wrote. Older billionaires however, tend to focus on philanthropy after retiring instead of weaving it in throughout their careers, according to Wealth-X.
These trends among young philanthropists are especially noteworthy after three of New York's leading museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art all faced protests in 2019 for accepting donations from controversial billionaires.
The report analyzed the philanthropic habits of individuals under 45 with net worths above $30 million, who, according to Wealth-X's researchers, have pledged to donate at least $50,000 to charity between 2014 and 2018. Wealth-X expects the trends observed in the report to only grow stronger with time, as young ultra-high net worth individuals currently comprise just 8% of the world's ultra-wealthy population.
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