Philanthropy keeps on going strong despite financial trouble – Rupert Hoogewerf

 

Rupert Hoogewerf

The number of philanthropists on the annual Hurun Philanthropy List keeps on growing, despite the financial problems many have. The Country Garden founder and his daughter top in 2023, says Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report with 34 tycoons making the 100 million yuan threshold, according to the South China Morning Post.

The South China Morning Post:

The founder and chairman of indebted property developer Country Garden top a list of 34 Chinese business magnates who each promised to give away at least 100 million yuan (US$13.7 million) to charitable causes in the last year…

The troubled, debt-ridden real estate sector is still the “main source of donations” on the philanthropy list, as well as the main source of wealth on Hurun’s list of rich individuals, said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report…

“Whilst philanthropy is not keeping up with wealth creation, the number of individuals donating 100 million yuan or more in a year has risen to 34 this year from two 20 years ago,” Hoogewerf said.

More in the South China Morning Post.

Rupert Hoogewerf is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

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China's philanthropists focus on education - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

China's philanthropists spend most of their money on education, followed by poverty alleviation, says the 2019 Hurun Philanthropist List, according to the Shanghai-based Hurun chief researcher Rupert Hoogewerf in a press release. Automotive executive of China’s largest auto components company Wanxiang Group tops the list with US$720 million.

Hurun:

Lu Weiding, chief executive of China’s largest auto components company Wanxiang Group, became the country’s most generous philanthropist, with a single donation of US$720 million in the year ending March 31, according to Hurun Philanthropist List. Lu, 48, nicknamed “Auto Parts King,” made the donation through shares of a subsidiary that went public to a charitable trust in memory of his father, Lu Guanqiu.

Lu Guanqiu founded Wanxiang in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, with about US$500 in 1969, which is about US$3,500 in 2019 dollars. He grew the company from a farm tool manufacturer into a multinational conglomerate with business in auto parts, real estate, agribusiness, and finance. He died in 2017 at age 72. Lu Weiding and his family has a net worth of US$6.5 billion, according to Hurun’s estimate. Occupying the second spot on the 2019 Hurun Philanthropist List was Chen Yidan, 48, co-founder of Chinese internet giant Tencent Technology, based in Shenzhen. He made a US$500 million gift, mainly made up of Tencent shares. In 2016, he established the Yidan Prize with a US$320 million donation, giving US$2 million each year to two individuals who make significant contributions to education. Xu Jiayin, 61, ranked third with a US$230 million donation. Xu has a net worth US$37 billion through his 77% stake in the Guangzhou-based Evergrande Group. In total, 114 Chinese philanthropists donated US$3 million or more in the year leading up to March 31, according to Hurun, which began to compile the list 16 years ago. Total donations, based on cash, cash equivalents, and legally binding commitments, were down 3% year-over-year to US$3.2 billion. “The preferred cause of China’s top philanthropists has been education, although poverty alleviation has grown dramatically to become the second most popular cause this year,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, in a news release. Education accounted for 35% of total donations. while the proportion of donations to poverty alleviation increased to 29% from the 18% reported a year ago.

More in Barron's.

Rupert Hoogewerf is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request list.

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Charity donations stalled despite growing fortunes - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

Fortunes of China's rich have exploded in the past decade, but philanthropic donations did not change over the past ten years, says Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of the 2017 Hurun Philanthropy List to ECNS. Hurun Philanthropy List. And when they donate, they prefer overseas charities.

ECNS:

A new Hurun Philanthropy List released on Thursday shows that although the threshold for entering the Hurun Rich List has doubled in the past 10 years, the threshold for charity has remained unchanged, indicating the lagging development of China's charity work. 

In 2007, a minimum net worth of 7.5 billion yuan (about $11 billion) was required to be included in China's Top 100 richest people, and the threshold rose to 22 billion yuan in 2016, a rise of nearly double. The threshold for entering the Philanthropy List is 15 million yuan in 2017, the same as that in 2007. 

Xu Guanju, the founder of chemicals and logistics provider Transfar Group, and his family topped the Hurun Philanthropy List with a donation of 3 billion yuan. He was followed by Tencent co-founder Chen Yidan with a donation of 2.25 billion yuan to set up the world's largest education award, the "Yidan Award," in Hong Kong and Xu Jiayin of Evergrande Real Estate with 1.24 billion yuan. 

Xu's family, worth 23 billion yuan according to the Hurun Report, announced the donation to Transfar Charity Foundation to mark the 30th anniversary of the group's founding last year, pledging to support poverty alleviation, medicine, health and the environment. 

The list ranks annually the Top 100 most generous individuals from the Chinese mainland based on their donations in the past year. The 100 philanthropists donated a total of nearly 16 billion yuan, down 45 percent year on year due to Pony Ma's donation driving up the overall level last year. 

Real estate, investment and IT are still the top three industries that most philanthropists are doing, making up 60 percent of the list, which had 73 new philanthropists, four more than last year. At 30, Papi Jiang, one of China's most popular internet stars, became the youngest donor on the list, while the average age was 55 years old. 

This year the minimum donation amount was 15 million yuan, up from 12.55 million yuan the previous year. 

Rupert Hoogewerf, the Hurun Report Chairman and Chief Researcher, said, "Generally speaking, entrepreneurs in China are still busy making their money. The Number 100 on the Hurun Rich List has shot up seven times, but the Number 100 of the Hurun Philanthropy List has stayed the same, at $2 million." 

The report also showed that more rich people from private business had made donations abroad. Six entrepreneurs donated 10 million yuan or more overseas. Chen Tianqiao, the mainland's online game pioneer who founded Shanda Games, and his wife Luo Qianqian, donated 800 million yuan to the California Institute of Technology for brain research. Jing Xiandong of the Ant Financial Services Group announced a $5 million donation to strengthen the Carlson School's relationship with China, the largest gift from China in the University of Minnesota's history.

More at ECSN.

Rupert Hoogewerf is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for more stories by Rupert Hoogewerf? Do check out this list.  

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