Sir Elton John and JK Rowling Tops List of Most Generous British Celebrities

By Staff Writer

Oct 07, 2014 05:05 AM EDT

British musician Sir Elton John told Russian President Vladimir Putin that he has met abused Russians under legislation banning "homosexual propaganda"
(Photo : Reuters)
Harry Potter British Author J.K. Rowling has yet another best-selling adult novel, “The Casual Vacancy.’’ (Photo : Paul Hackett/Reuters)
Celebrity couple David and Victoria Beckham has already requested a play date with Prince William and Kate Middleton one-week-old baby, Prince George. (Photo : Reuters)
British-Irish boy band One Direction waves to their fans after a performance on NBC's 'Today' show in New York City. (Photo : Reuters/Brendan McDermid)

There are perks to being a celebrity in Great Britain. You can drive or ride the most expensive cars, buy extravagant clothes or live in a dream house with a swimming pool. But there are a select few who have shown their generosity by giving back to the less fortunate ones, a part of their fortune.

The Giving List is published by the Sunday Times and is based from the list of the people who appeared in the newspaper’s yearly Rich List. The list includes 165 millionaires who donated more than £1 million of their personal fortunse to charitable institutions with 48 donating £10 million and 20 over £25m. Here are the top 10 most Generous British Celebrities:

10. Martin Lewis – £2 million
With a net worth of £65 million, Martin Lewis has pledged to donate £10 million worth of shares to charity. He is an English financial journalist, author, and television presenter. Martin Lewis established the moneysavingexpert.com website.

9. Simon Cowell - £1.6 Million
With a personal wealth of £225 million, music mogul Simon Cowell makes his first appearance in the yearly Giving List. In October 2013, he participated in a fundraising event in Los Angeles supporting the Israeli Defense Forces. The event raised $20 million and Cowell personally gave $150,000.

8. One Direction - £2.1 Million

To date, the widely popular boy band One Direction has already donated £2.1 Million to charity. For every ticket sold for their 2014 World Tour, half of the proceeds will be donated to charity. For this reason, they are likely to appear again in next year’s list.

7. Eric Clapton - £2.5m

Eric Clapton has a net worth of £150 million. He provides funds for the Antigua based Crossroads Center for drug and alcohol rehabilitation. His Clapton’s Guitar Festival held in Madison Square Garden, New York raised $4 million.

6. Coldplay - £2.8 Million
Four members of the band Coldplay donated 1.4 percent of their wealth, majority of which came from their J Van Mars Foundation for disadvantaged children. Likewise, they had DJ Jo Whiley run the treadmill for 26 hours, raising £260,000 for Sports Relief.

5. David and Victoria Beckham - £3.4 Million

The famous couple David and Victoria Beckham recently auctioned their wardrobe creating a frenzy at the King’s Road Branch of the British Red Cross, raising £40,000. David Beckham also donated £3.4 million worth of his salary playing in Paris Saint-German to charitable institutions in France. Collectively, the couple is worth more than £210 million.

4. Colin Montgomerie - £3.6 Million

Scottish golfer Colin Montgomerie has made over £24 million worth of prize money. He has donated £3.6 million to two Maggie’s Cancer Centers in Scotland in memory of his late mother. The funds have been released through his Elizabeth Montgomerie Foundation.

3. Bono - £8.0 Million

Together with designer Sir Jonathan Ive, U2 frontman Bono has raised about £8.0 Million to the Global Funds to Fight Aids in Africa recently. The proceeds from the auction, curated by Ive and Marc Newson, were match-funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

2. J.K. Rowling - £9.4 Million

Renowned author J.K. Rowling serves as Chairman of Lumos Foundation, a charitable institution for children. She is also chairman of the Volant Charitable Trust, focusing on medical research on multiple sclerosis. Her mother died of this medical foundation.

1. Sir Elton John - £24 Million

Sir Elton John is valued at £260 million. He has sold over 250 million records worldwide. The veteran singer has already donated £14 million to his Aids Foundation in the US and in Britain.

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