Who are the biggest philanthropists in the UK?

The United Kingdom is one of the richest nations in the world, being home to several millionaires and billionaires. These people have the money, resources and influence to make a significant difference to as many lives as they have British pounds – and fortunately, plenty of them do.

So what do they do, why do they do it, and how exactly they’re using their wealth to improve the world around them?

Read on if you want to find out who these good Samaritans are.

Lord Rumi Verjee

Lord Rumi Verjee is perhaps best known for being the founder of Domino’s Pizza in the UK, before selling his stake in the firm and moving on to other ventures, like overseeing the Watford Football Club and buying the tableware shop, Thomas Goode (which supplies to royal households of Queen Elizabeth II and the Prince of Wales).

His net worth is estimated to be around £165 million and he has donated £33.9 million of this to education, children and social causes, particularly in East Africa. This equates to a whopping 20.54% of his overall wealth.

Verjee cites the reason behind his activism is because he wants to give back to his home country, which helped shape his family’s identity and philanthropic spirit.

Tej Kohli

Tej Kohli is a London-based entrepreneur whose wealth lies mainly in the real estate and the technology industry.

Born and raised in Delhi, India, Kohli didn’t come from a particularly wealthy family but managed to graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur with a degree in electrical engineering. This education helped inform his successful investments in the tech industry, which he recently poured $100 million into for an open-bionics firm creating the next generation of prosthetic limbs.

He also has a foundation dedicated to curing corneal blindness, particularly in poor Indian communities where people are most affected by this ailment, as he feels emotionally tied to the cause because of his background.

Dame Vivien Duffield

Though Dame Vivien Duffield’s current wealth standing is unknown, she has donated at least £4.2 million to the arts, Jewish causes and education. She inherited £45 million from her father in 1979 and went on to establish the Clore-Duffield foundation, which has donated £112 million to charity overall. As such, she’s widely recognised for her philanthropy in both the UK and Israel, and she was appointed a CBE in 1989.

The Lord Sainsbury of Turville

David John Sainsbury is a British businessman, politician and philanthropist. He’s made a multitude of notable contributions to society, including donations to both the Labour and Liberal Democrats political parties.

But he is perhaps most recognised for his family name – after all, his great grandfather did establish the second biggest supermarket chain in the UK. Of his £1.3 billion, Lord Sainsbury has donated £233.8 million to various causes, such as the Gatsby Charitable Foundation.

These are some of the biggest philanthropists in the UK who use their powerful positions to make the world a better place.