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There is no defensible, comparable worldwide top 10 in the available current data: foundations report different measures, dates and currencies, and do not share one reporting universe. A recent ranking of U.S. private foundations by reported assets offers a useful, clearly bounded alternative. It places Lilly Endowment first, but it counts the Gates Foundation and the separately reported Gates Foundation Trust as two entries.
Why a worldwide top 10 would be misleading
“Biggest” can mean total assets, an endowment, an investment portfolio or annual charitable spending. Those measures are not interchangeable. Legal structures and reporting rules also differ: a U.S. private foundation, an international charity and an enterprise foundation may not report on the same basis.
For example, Lilly Endowment reports total assets, the Gates Foundation reports an endowment for its trust, and Wellcome reports both an investment portfolio and total funds. Their figures also refer to different dates and currencies. Putting them in one ordered list without a common method would imply comparability that the reports do not establish.
The ranking below is therefore limited to U.S. private foundations and uses each entry’s latest reported total assets in a Form 990-PF, as compiled by PlainCharity. Its entries use different fiscal years, shown in the table. It is not a ranking of all philanthropic organizations worldwide or of consolidated philanthropic groups.
10 largest U.S. private foundations by reported assets
| Rank | Organization | Reported assets | Fiscal year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lilly Endowment Inc. | $105.89 billion | 2025 |
| 2 | Gates Foundation | $78.67 billion | 2024 |
| 3 | Gates Foundation Trust | $77.56 billion | 2024 |
| 4 | Ford Foundation | $17.48 billion | 2024 |
| 5 | William & Flora Hewlett Foundation | $14.20 billion | Not stated in the ranking entry |
| 6 | J. Paul Getty Trust | $13.90 billion | Not stated in the ranking entry |
| 7 | Robert Wood Johnson Foundation | $13.42 billion | Not stated in the ranking entry |
| 8 | Bloomberg Family Foundation | $12.12 billion | Not stated in the ranking entry |
| 9 | Gordon E. and Betty I. Moore Foundation | $11.52 billion | Not stated in the ranking entry |
| 10 | Foundation to Promote Open Society | $10.84 billion | Not stated in the ranking entry |
PlainCharity’s ranking uses Form 990-PF filings from fiscal 2023 or later, but the fiscal year for each of the last six entries is not stated in the ranking data summarized here. The list ranks reported legal entities separately, rather than combining related entities into a single philanthropic group.
What the figures do—and do not—show
Lilly Endowment’s reported scale
PlainCharity lists Lilly Endowment’s assets at $105.89 billion for fiscal 2025. The Endowment’s own FAQ gives a rounded figure of $106 billion in total assets as of December 31, 2025. The values are consistent in scale, but one is a ranking entry tied to a fiscal-year filing and the other is the institution’s rounded year-end figure; they should not be treated as separate rankings or added together. See the Lilly Endowment FAQ.
The Gates entries are separate reporting rows
The ranking lists the Gates Foundation and Gates Foundation Trust separately, using fiscal 2024 assets of $78.67 billion and $77.56 billion, respectively. This is a feature of its entity-by-entity method, not evidence that the Trust is an independent grantmaking foundation or that the two rows should be combined as one foundation’s assets.
The Gates Foundation’s current fact sheet reports the Trust’s endowment at $89 billion on December 31, 2025, and $92 billion on June 30, 2026; the latter figure is unaudited. Those later endowment values use a different measure and dates from the ranking’s FY2024 asset entry. The Foundation says its grantees worked in 143 countries in 2025, and reports charitable support of $8.47 billion in 2025 and $8.01 billion in 2024; its 2025 figures are rounded and unaudited. See the Gates Foundation fact sheet and its 2025 annual-letter figures.
Wellcome is a major international comparator, not a directly ranked entry
Wellcome describes its mission as supporting science to solve urgent health challenges. Its 2024/25 report says it spent £1.9 billion on charitable activity, including work involving mental health, infectious disease, and climate and health. As of September 30, 2025, Wellcome reported a £39.9 billion investment portfolio and £35.7 billion in total funds. Those are two distinct measures, in pounds and on a stated date, and cannot be directly inserted into the U.S. asset ranking. See Wellcome’s 2024/25 annual report and its investment information.
The Novo Nordisk Foundation is another relevant international institution: Wellcome describes it as a Danish enterprise foundation with philanthropic objectives, and it has partnered with Gates and Wellcome on global health research and development. That establishes its philanthropic relevance, but does not provide an asset figure comparable to the U.S. ranking. See the partnership announcement.
Rank #4
How to compare foundations responsibly
Before treating any “largest foundations” list as a global ranking, check what it actually measures and counts:
- Measure: Total assets, endowment, investment portfolio and annual charitable expenditure answer different questions.
- Reporting entity: Check whether the list ranks legal entities individually or consolidates related foundations and trusts.
- Date and currency: Put the fiscal year or as-of date and currency beside each number. A later figure is not automatically comparable if it uses a different accounting measure.
- Audit status: Identify unaudited figures where the institution labels them that way.
- Mission and reach: Asset size indicates financial scale, not the amount distributed in a year, the number of people served or the results achieved.
Older datasets can add context but should not be mistaken for current rankings. The Pensions & Investments Foundations Data Report’s appendix mainly reflects plan-sponsor investment data as of fiscal 2022, with some listed figures dated December 31, 2021. It is an older comparison layer, not a current worldwide ordering. See the report.
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