George Lucas Will Donate Billions From Disney Deal: Most Generous Celebrity?
SLIDESHOW: Most Generous Celebrity?
George Lucas
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George Lucas
George Lucas has made it clear that he wants to devote the rest of his life to philanthropy — and he’s taking the $4 billion from the "Star Wars" sale with him!
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Bill Gates
Bill Gates, one of the few businessmen famous enough to qualify as a celebrity, had contributed over $28 billion to charity by 2007. He and his wife Melinda plan to eventually donate 95% of their wealth.
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Warren Buffett
Despite being an incredibly wealthy — he’s currently worth $46 billion — investor, Warren Buffett lives in a modest house and has pledged to give 99% of his wealth to charity.
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Ted Turner
In 1998 media mogul Ted Turner pledged to donate $1 billion to U.N.-related causes. So far he’s reached $841 million: keep going, Ted!
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Jami Gertz
The “Sixteen Candles” and “The Lost Boys” actress was the biggest “celebrity donor” of 2011, with contributions of $10,569,002.
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Herb Alpert
Herb Alpert, one of the most successful band leaders ever, and the only musician to top the "Billboard" chart as a singer and an instrumentalist, donated $9,104,829 through his Herb Alpert Foundation last year.
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Justin Timberlake
According to a 2010 survey by The Daily Beast, Justin's annual impact for his chosen cause — Shriners Hospital for Children — was $9,262,381.
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Madonna
In the same Daily Beast survey, Madonna came in second, raising $5,540,068 for her Raising Malawi charity foundation.
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1,850 votes
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21% | |||
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5,227 votes
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58% | |||
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872 votes
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10% | |||
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174 votes
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2% | |||
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285 votes
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3% | |||
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244 votes
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3% | |||
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195 votes
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2% | |||
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127 votes
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1% | |||
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Lucas plans to put the money into a foundation that focuses on educational issues, a cause close to his heart. A spokesperson said that “George Lucas has expressed his intention, in the event the deal closes, to donate the majority of the proceeds to his philanthropic endeavors.”
Top Opinion
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twhiting9275 2012/11/02 18:20:45
I feel sorry for you.
Okay, thats a cheap shot, ill admit it. Props to Lucas for doing this.
That being said, the funds will do far more good in the hands of charity that the Government's.
It takes years of study and keen observation to compile and create a comprehensive worldview that can see through the games played by the super rich.
Granted, at least George Lucas accumulated his wealth by producing movies and entertainment for the Lumpenproletariat. But, the entertainment of the proles is very secondary. His main achievement was to provide markets for the flood of low-grade merchandise, where the real profits are made. He gave hundreds of millions of people a chance to escape reality and adopt a neatly packaged pseudo-theology called The Force.
In the end, Lucas's contribution to the advancement of the culture and social well-being netted a big fat ZERO. Billions lost in the entertainment frot...
It takes years of study and keen observation to compile and create a comprehensive worldview that can see through the games played by the super rich.
Granted, at least George Lucas accumulated his wealth by producing movies and entertainment for the Lumpenproletariat. But, the entertainment of the proles is very secondary. His main achievement was to provide markets for the flood of low-grade merchandise, where the real profits are made. He gave hundreds of millions of people a chance to escape reality and adopt a neatly packaged pseudo-theology called The Force.
In the end, Lucas's contribution to the advancement of the culture and social well-being netted a big fat ZERO. Billions lost in the entertainment froth that will never be recovered.
If you want an example of how to help the poor, disabled, and working class in their struggles, then you need to look no further than Harry Hopkins and Eugene V Debs. Harry Hopkins was FDR's Public Works Program genius that literally saved tens of millions from unemployment and destitution in only six months! And millions more during the Great Depression. Doing REAL WORK of REAL public value! Even if they were leaning on their shovels for the moment, that's better than getting a check for doing nothing.
Eugene V Debs' struggles laid the foundation for ALL, and I mean ALL, of the things that once made the America the envy of the world. Even though we've lost most of it over the last 30-40 years, we still enjoy the tattered threadbare shreds of the New Deal, even as we are taught to bray for our own destruction, by belching up neocon propaganda.
But I, personally, think the neatly-packaged pseudo-theology called Star Wars was a contribution to "the advancement of the culture and social well-being." Cultures are based on epics, and frankly, Star Wars is a better story than either Gilgamesh or Beowulf.
I will say, I have a much better opinion of Eugene Debs after doing some research after your post. I only remember him being mentioned in passing in high school social studies; the idea of millions of Americans, back then, voting socialist, makes a whole lot more sense now that I've looked at what he was actually saying. I again can't say I agree with it all, but I agree with a significant portion of it, which is a whole lot more than I can say of some politicians nowadays.