Leonard Blavatnik’s £75 million ($117.2 million) gift to Oxford University for a new government school was the largest donation made by an individual philanthropist in 2010, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. This gift follows his $10 million donation to Harvard in 2009. Blavatnik, who was born in Russia, holds American citizenship, and lives in London, appeared at number 93 on the 2010 edition of the Forbes World Billionaires list.
“Europe’s richest man and the world’s fifth richest,” Lakshmi Mittal, is building “the most expensive” house in Scotland, according to Curbed.
Mittal also was mentioned in a widely-reprinted Agence France Presse article last week that discussed a recent $2 billion gift for education by Azim Premji in the context of the current philanthropic climate among India’s upper class. According to AFP,
“The 100 wealthiest Indians have a net worth equal to 25 percent of India’s GDP and Premji’s donation — by far the largest ever made by an individual — was seen as a challenge to others in the [country’s] ultra-rich club.”
The Economic Times ran several interesting articles in late December about current real estate trends in India. It predicted that the 2010 cost spike in Mumbai residential real estate is “set to see some price correction in 2011.” It also explored the rise of second home ownership by Indians, both in India and elsewhere.
Perspectives on Chinese philanthropy appeared in the news recently. Xinhua, the office Chinese news agency, published a year-end article called, “China embraces modern philanthropy era, legislation lags.” In “Big bucks charitable giving takes hold in 2010,” the Shanghai Daily reported on recent major gifts and conflicting opinions about the nature of philanthropy among high-net worth Chinese business owners. Meanwhile, the BBC focused on these issues and discussed current funding realities for Chinese NGOs.
The prices of basic goods in Boston and Hangzhou are quite similar, according to a recent informal comparison summarized by the English-language China news source Danwei.
New college graduates in China now have a tax incentive to start their own businesses. The incentive went into effect at the beginning of the year as part of an ongoing government effort to control unemployment.
In December, the global edition of the New York Times/ International Herald Tribune began posting selections online from “the first in a series of iPhone applications created… to explain the culture and etiquette of major business centers.” The initial iPhone app focuses on China.