Sir Chris Hohn has become the first British billionaire to donate more than £1 billion in a single year, giving away £1.438 billion in the past year, according to the 2026 Sunday Times Giving List. The figure puts the hedge fund manager far ahead of his peers and makes his philanthropy the clearest driver of this year’s rankings.

Hohn’s donation was equivalent to 16.8 per cent of his estimated £8.556 billion fortune, and the compilers of the list said his gifts alone account for almost 30 per cent of the total amount given by the top 100 philanthropists combined. His charitable giving has focused heavily on climate change initiatives and children’s health.

The Giving List is compiled in association with the Charities Aid Foundation and measures how much Britain’s wealthiest people donate to charitable causes. This year’s rankings were compiled using Charity Commission records, regulator filings and private disclosures submitted before May 1, 2026. The list is published as part of The Sunday Times Rich List and uses a Giving Index that shows the proportion of wealth donated or pledged to charity.

The scale of Hohn’s giving underlines how concentrated major philanthropy remains at the top of Britain’s wealth ladder. Sir Michael Moritz and Harriet Heyman followed in second place after donating £627.6 million, while Alan Parker ranked third with £283.7 million. The compilers said the top 100 philanthropists together gave almost £5 billion to charitable causes in the past year alone.

Climate change and environmental projects were among the most popular causes in the rankings, alongside healthcare and medical research. Education remained another major priority, while charities focused on children, poverty, refugees and humanitarian support also attracted significant backing.

Mark Greer, speaking for the list’s compilers, said research shows that wealthy donors can be inspired by someone else’s story, but that charitable giving is still not talked about much in the UK, even among the ultra-wealthy. Hohn’s numbers now set a new benchmark for that conversation, and for the gap between big private fortunes and the scale of giving they can produce.