Today in Giving Back: Forbes Ranks America’s Top 25 Philanthropists, From Warren Buffett to Mike Bloomberg (Forbes)

Each year, Forbes ranks America’s most generous philanthropists, spotlighting the individuals and couples who have given away the largest sums of their fortunes to charitable causes. In total, the nation’s top 25 philanthropists have donated $275 billion so far in their lifetimes, an uptick of $34 billion over last year.
‌

At the top of the list is Warren Buffett, who has donated $68.3 billion, or 32% of his net worth, largely toward health and poverty alleviation, and continues to give billions annually even after retiring as Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO at the end of 2025.
‌

Close behind at No. 2 are Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, whose combined lifetime giving totals $52.6 billion. While the two divorced in 2021 and Melinda left the Gates Foundation in 2024, Forbes still counts their donations together due to the scale and impact of their joint philanthropy, particularly in global health and development.

Claiming the No. 3 spot is MacKenzie Scott, who has donated $26.4 billion in less than seven years. Her $7.2 billion in giving last year marked the largest single-year total since Forbes began tracking top donors in 2012.
‌

Taking No. 4 is Mike Bloomberg, who to date has donated $25.4 billion, with a focus on climate change, health, and education.

As Forbes reports, "Bloomberg, a climate envoy to the United Nations, announced a $100 million investment to cut methane emissions in November."

"The founder of financial data and media company Bloomberg LP granted over $502 million to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) last year and earmarked $10 million to set up charter schools in partnership with HBCUs," Forbes writes. Learn more about Mike's education initiatives here. 

"He also launched the Lead Poisoning Prevention Initiative, which targets high-need countries in Asia, Africa, and South America and has already doled out over $91 million to organizations like Vital Strategies and Pure Earth," according to Forbes. 

Read the full list of philanthropists here, and learn more about the work of Bloomberg Philanthropies here. 

‌

US Weather Watch

‌

Cold Crunch: Deep Freeze More Than Doubled Power Costs on Biggest US Grid (Bloomberg)
‌

Electricity costs on the largest US grid more than doubled in January as a deep freeze drove up heating demand and operators shored up supplies to keep the lights on.
‌

Total wholesale power costs on the grid operated by PJM Interconnection LLC, which serves about a fifth of Americans, jumped to $15.38 billion in the first month of the year, up from $7.34 billion in January 2025, according to Joe Bowring, president of the system’s independent watchdog, Monitoring Analytics LLC.
‌

The preliminary data offers an early snapshot of how the storm could translate into higher consumer bills, as electricity affordability has become a more pressing election issue after playing a key role in gubernatorial races last year. Power costs surged alongside a rally in natural gas prices, which climbed to multi-year highs on the East Coast and hit records in parts of the country as frigid weather swept large swaths of the US.

After the Storm: NYC is Still Covered in Grimy Snow and Ice. Will It Ever Go Away? (New York Times)

Ah, those first wondrous hours of a snowstorm in New York. Two weeks later, the sidewalks are sooty and treacherous, and the parked cars are frozen in surrender.

For a city that lives for street parking, the freeze-out was humbling. Mountains of blackened ice piled up in bus stops and beyond. After that initial cloudburst, the snow became something else entirely — an ugly substance lying cold and stubborn on the ground.

Now comes insult: According to the latest forecast, it is never going to be warm again (at least for a few weeks), the New York Times writes. 

‌

What I'm Reading

Token Fallout: Crypto Revolt Exposes Fragility of Trump's Coalition (Axios)

Trillions of dollars in value have been vaporized from global crypto markets since October, plunging an ascendant industry championed by President Trump into a new bout of turmoil.

Crypto joins a growing list of MAGA coalition partners — from Epstein-focused populists to farmers to Latino men — now questioning whether Trump's return to power has delivered what they were promised.
‌

Many crypto leaders swallowed their discomfort last year after Trump-branded meme coins generated massive profits for insiders — and left retail traders holding tokens that plummeted in value.

Ethical concerns deepened as the Trump family's crypto venture raked in hundreds of millions — including through a secret investment by an Emirati royal who was lobbying the US government for access to advanced AI chips.

Data Gamble: How London Stock Market’s Big Bet on Data Turned Into a Disaster (The Telegraph)

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) was one of several groups caught up in last week’s software bloodbath following the release of the new Claude AI automation tool from Anthropic, the Silicon Valley tech group.

Recent advances in AI have left some investors wondering whether boss David Schwimmer’s big bet on data might be about to unravel and be forever branded as an “AI loser,” The Telegraph reports. 

In moving towards data and analytics and away from its bread and butter role running London’s stock and bond markets, there are growing fears in the market that LSEG has left itself worryingly exposed to disruption from the likes of Anthropic.

Niall Gallagher, a fund manager from Jupiter, said that LSEG’s core strength was the data it owned that wasn’t available elsewhere and which AI couldn’t replicate.

“This does not mean that every single data set or data process inside of LSEG could not be replicated more cheaply by AI, but we do think there is a strong moat,” he said, according to The Telegraph. 

‌

AI Gatekeeper: Meta Hit by EU Warning to Open WhatsApp to Rival AI Chatbots (Bloomberg)
‌

Meta Platforms Inc. was given a European Union warning over policies that block the use of rival Artificial Intelligence assistants on WhatsApp, raising the possibility of further tensions with the Trump administration over the regulation of US tech companies.
‌

The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, sent a statement of objections to Meta, warning the company it will take measures to avoid “serious and irreparable harm on the market” over its failure to allow access to other AI tools.

Big Tech Debt: Alphabet Embarks on Global Bond Spree to Fund Record Spending (Bloomberg)
‌

Alphabet Inc. is borrowing far and wide to finance the unprecedented spending plan behind its artificial intelligence ambitions.

‌

The Google parent is set to raise $20 billion from a US dollar bond offering on Monday — more than the $15 billion initially expected — and is also pitching investors on what would be its first-ever offerings in Switzerland and the UK. The latter would include a rare sale of 100-year bonds, the first time a tech company has tried such an offering since the dotcom frenzy of the late 1990s.

Accession Fast Track: EU Is Readying Options to Give Ukraine Gradual Membership Rights (Bloomberg)
‌

The European Union is preparing a series of options to embed Ukraine’s membership in a future peace deal. The options under consideration include providing Kyiv upfront with the protection that comes with EU accession as well as immediate access to some membership rights.

Climate Heads to Court: Trump to Repeal Landmark Climate Finding in Huge Regulatory Rollback (Wall Street Journal)

‌

The Trump administration is planning this week to repeal the Obama-era scientific finding that serves as the legal basis for federal greenhouse-gas regulation, according to US officials, in the most far-reaching rollback of US climate policy to date.

‌

Environmental groups have said they would challenge a rollback in the courts, and it could be years before litigation is resolved. 

‌

Maritime Warning: US Tells American Ships to Keep Away From Iran Amid Tensions (Bloomberg)
‌

The US said in an advisory that American-flagged ships should stay as far as possible from Iranian waters when navigating the Strait of Hormuz after a vessel was harassed last week, with tensions remaining high between Washington and Tehran.
‌

Iranian forces historically have utilized small boats and helicopters during boarding operations and have attempted to force commercial vessels into Iranian territorial waters, including as recently as Feb. 3, the US government said in a maritime advisory on Monday.

Japan Shift: Sanae Takaichi Targets Changes to Japan’s Constitution After Landslide Election Win (Financial Times)

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has vowed to use her dominance of Japan’s parliament after her huge election win to attempt to amend the country’s constitution for the first time in almost 80 years.

Speaking on Monday evening at her first press conference since her victory, Takaichi said her more powerful mandate from voters had left her feeling a “heavy, heavy responsibility to strengthen Japan”.

Oil Chokehold: Cuba Runs Out of Jet Fuel as Donald Trump Squeezes Oil Supplies (Financial Times)

Cuba has told international airlines that it will not be able to supply them with jet fuel from Tuesday, as President Trump squeezes the communist island’s oil supplies, according to the Financial Times. 

The measure, at the height of the tourist season, has prompted Air Canada to suspend flights to the island and is expected to hit US, Spanish, Panamanian and Mexican airlines. The notice, issued at the weekend, said the measure would last until March 11. 

Silence Strategy: Maxwell Invokes Right to Silence on Lawmakers’ Epstein Questions (Bloomberg)
‌

Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted accomplice of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, refused on Monday to answer any questions from a House panel investigating Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation.
‌

Maxwell appeared virtually for a scheduled deposition but then invoked her Fifth Amendment constitutional right not to incriminate herself in testimony, said James Comer, the committee’s Republican chairman.

Saying he had advised his client not to testify, Maxwell's attorney, David Oscar Markus, bluntly said in a statement that "Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump," according to NBC.

‌

UK Fallout: Keir Starmer Never Knew Epstein. But He’s Becoming Collateral Damage. (Bloomberg)

‌

Negotiation Rerun: Hollywood Braces for New Round of Labor Talks (New York Times)

‌

Negotiations will be between SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents thousands of actors, and the leaders of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the studios’ bargaining organization. Numerous bargaining sessions are expected in the coming weeks.

🔊 New Episode Alert: The Daily Read Podcast is live with an AI-fueled breakdown of today’s biggest headlines. Smarter context, sharper analysis—stream it now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Kalshi Bust: A Prediction-Market Trader Played the Super Bowl—and Lost $100,000 (Wall Street Journal)

‌

Halftime Show Winner: How Bad Bunny Won the Super Bowl (Politico Playbook)

‌

America watched Puerto Rican superstar Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio swap the overt political messaging of his speech at the Grammy Awards last week — “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ‘ICE OUT’” — for a joyous, Spanish-language tribute to his culture and its place in the national story.

‌

But the central theme of his show — “Together we are America,” emblazoned on a football that he triumphantly spiked before marching off the field — was instantly rejected by Trump.

‌

Trump’s predictably aggressive response didn’t jive with what many in MAGA world saw — suggesting Bad Bunny’s message of pan-American unity was well received. “Bad Bunny had the biggest stage in the world and could’ve made it political. He didn’t. He chose unity & love,” wrote conservative influencer Emily Austin. “You can celebrate different backgrounds and still love this country.”

‌

See for yourself. Watch the full halftime show here, which has racked up over 52 million views already on YouTube alone. 

‌

Olympic Momentum: Five More Golds Keep Winter Games Rolling as Competition Heats Up (New York Times - The Athletic)

Day 3 of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina delivered another blockbuster slate with five gold medals awarded across skiing, skating, ski jumping and snowboarding, keeping the momentum strong early in the Games.

Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud narrowly defended her women’s freeski slopestyle title, edging China’s Eileen Gu by a fraction and giving the Swiss team one of its multiple golds on the day. The Swiss also took top honors in the men’s Alpine skiing team combined, while the Netherlands’ Jutta Leerdam set an Olympic record en route to gold in the women’s 1000 m speedskating event.

Germany’s Philipp Raimund stunned in the men’s ski jump normal hill final, and Japan’s Kokomo Murase pulled off a dramatic last-run victory to win women’s big air snowboarding gold.

Talk about a bird's eye view: A great shot from photographer Alex Slitz of Polish ski jumper Kacper Tomasiak hovering above spectators in Val di Fiemme during a trial round for the men's normal hill event: 

‌

Today, fans can look forward to a loaded schedule with medal events in women’s team combined alpine skiing, cross-country sprint classics, and biathlon’s men’s 20 km individual; the mixed doubles curling medal round will conclude alongside ski jumping’s mixed team event and short-track speed skating mixed relay finals, as figure skating and ice hockey preliminaries continue through the day.

‌

Driving the Headlines: Lindsey Vonn Fractured Leg in Olympic Downhill Crash, Had Surgery (New York Times - The Athletic)

Lindsey Vonn had surgery to repair a fractured leg after  her fall Sunday in the women’s downhill race at the Winter Olympics, according to multiple reports.

Before the ACL injury and Sunday’s crash, Vonn was tracking as a medal favorite in three events at the Olympics — downhill, super-G and team combined, which pairs a downhiller with a slalom skier. Now, her Olympic career is likely over. In a December interview, she said this would be her final season.

Best of Late Night

On President Trump’s claim about a secret “discombobulator” weapon used in the Venezuela raid that ousted Maduro:

“Sir? Is there any chance the Discombobulator is on now? Because I would not describe your recent behavior as, uh, combobulated.”
-- Stephen Colbert

“Personally, I don’t think our most advanced new weapons should have whimsical names. If I’m shot by a laser that liquefies my organs until they leak out of my eyes, I don’t want them to tell my family that I was “dinky-zoinked” to death.” 
-- Michael Kosta

“And it is a great name, Mr. President. It does not sound like a weapon in ‘Paw Patrol’ at all.” 
-- Michael Kosta

And from The Daily Show: Jon Stewart digs into MAGA's hair-trigger outrage at anything that doesn't align with their narrow set of values, from boycotting Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show with TPUSA's own "English"-language mediocrity fest, to the president setting a new racism high score with a social media post dehumanizing the Obamas, to dressing down a US Olympic skier for expressing less than a fraction of the disdain for America that Trump himself has doled out. Click the photo below to watch.
‌