J.K. Rowling
This past week the Powerball was at an all time high. Many people talked about what they would do with so much money. Here is an example of someone who through hard work made that kind of money. And what is amazing is that J.K. Rowling has given away an estimated $160m – which is worth around £112m today, to charities which help women and children.
In 2005, she co-founded Children’s High Level Group (CHLG) with Baroness Emma Nicholson MEP, after reading an article about children sleeping in cages in institutions in the Czech Republic. In 2010 the charity was renamed Lumos, and works to end the systematic institutionalisation of children across Europe.
A special edition of J.K. Rowling’s book The Tales of Beedle the Bard was auctioned for CHLG in 2007, raising £1.95 million, and the following year this title was published in aid of the charity, quickly becoming the fastest-selling book of the year.
Also in 2010, the author also donated £10m to a new clinic at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland which leads research into Multiple Sclerosis. It was named Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic after her mother, who died of Multiple Sclerosis aged 45.
Her charitable trust, Volant. Supports a number of projects, mainly those which alleviate social deprivation and supports work on women’s and children’s issues.
In 2012, she was knocked off Forbes list of World’s Billionaires with the publisher claiming her “high tax rates and charitable giving” had depleted her wealth enough to push her out the league.
