Donations: $1 billion

Education: PHD, University of Zurich

Marital Status: Married ,Children: 2

Fourth-generation member of a Swiss-German industrial fortune, Stephan Schmidheiny has an estimated net worth of $3 billion as of April 2016, according to Forbes. He is an industrialist turned philanthropist and environmentalist. In 1978 became president of the board of his father's Eternit, a construction materials manufacturer. Began moving the company away from asbestos long before it was a banned substance. Diversified over the next ten years, investing in forestry firm Grupo Nueva and other multinationals.

Retired in 2003 at age 47 to concentrate on philanthropy. That year he founded the Viva Trust, to which he donated pipe and forestry company Grupo Nueva, then worth $1 billion.

Funds have primarily been distributed to the not-for-profit Avina, to help build networks of entrepreneurs and leaders in Latin America.