5 Billionaires Who Use Their Wealth to Advocate for Homelessness
Billionaires can direct extraordinary amounts of money toward housing, homelessness prevention and support services. Some have established dedicated funds, while others finance nonprofit organizations, affordable housing and academic research.
These five billionaires have made documented financial commitments to addressing homelessness or housing insecurity.
Billionaires Funding the Fight Against Homelessness
1. Jeff Bezos
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos established the Bezos Day 1 Fund in 2018 with a $2 billion commitment divided between family homelessness programs and early childhood education.
The Day 1 Families Fund provides grants to organizations helping families move from shelters or unsheltered homelessness into stable housing.
According to the fund, it distributed more than $850 million through 280 grants between 2018 and 2025. Recipients have included organizations in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam.
2. MacKenzie Scott
Author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated billions of dollars to nonprofit organizations, often through unrestricted grants that allow recipients to decide how the money is used.
In 2023, Scott’s Yield Giving donated $15 million to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. It was the largest individual gift in the organization’s history.
The coalition conducts research and advocates for policies that increase affordable housing and protect extremely low-income renters.
3. Marc Benioff
Salesforce co-founder Marc Benioff and his wife, Lynne, donated $30 million to establish the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative at the University of California, San Francisco in 2019.
UCSF described it as the largest private donation made to fund homelessness research at the time.
The initiative studies the causes and consequences of homelessness and gives policymakers evidence-based recommendations for prevention, housing and support programs.
4. Steve Ballmer
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his wife, Connie, co-founded Ballmer Group, which funds programs intended to improve economic mobility for American families.
Housing and homelessness are among the organization’s primary areas of investment. In 2024, Ballmer Group awarded $15 million to three Seattle-area organizations providing housing and services to people experiencing homelessness.
In 2026, the organization also launched an initiative intended to help finance more than 10,000 affordable rental homes across Washington state.
5. Laurene Powell Jobs
Laurene Powell Jobs founded and leads Emerson Collective, an organization that supports work involving education, immigration, environmental justice and community development.
Emerson Collective has invested in housing and homelessness programs, including organizations working to prevent displacement and expand affordable housing in California.
Its approach includes supporting community organizations, policy development and new housing models rather than relying exclusively on temporary shelter.
Can Billionaire Philanthropy End Homelessness?
Private donations can fund housing, services and valuable research. However, philanthropy alone cannot resolve shortages of affordable homes, low wages, healthcare barriers and public policies that contribute to homelessness.
The most effective efforts combine private funding with nonprofit expertise, community leadership and sustained government action.
Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott, Marc Benioff, Steve Ballmer and Laurene Powell Jobs have committed significant resources to parts of that work, although the long-term results of each initiative should continue to be independently measured.
Fact-check note: This article was reviewed and updated in July 2026. Warren Buffett, Pierre Omidyar and Ray Dalio were removed because the previous version did not provide adequate evidence for its specific claims about their homelessness-related giving.