Tom Golisano believes that “the only wealth you get to keep is that which you give away.”
The 83-year-old billionaire founder of Paychex, an HR, payroll, and benefits provider, voiced the sentiment on Tuesday at an event at Artis-Naples, a museum in Naples, Florida.
“This year I’ve decided to act on that saying,” Golisano said, per Barron’s. He announced at the event that he would be making 41 donations ranging from $150,000 to $10 million to nonprofits in southwest Florida. The philanthropic gifts total $85 million and are unrestricted, meaning each organization can decide on its own how to best use the funds. Each sum will be gradually paid out to each nonprofit organization over the next four to five years.
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“I hope this unexpected funding helps them broaden their impact and strengthen their organizations so they can expand their services and those they serve,” Golisano stated.
The biggest donations Golisano made were to the Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida ($10 million), Ave Maria University ($10 million), Naples Comprehensive Health ($5 million), Guadalupe Center ($3 million), and Easterseals Southwest Florida ($5 million).
Golisano split $10 million between 20 animal welfare nonprofits, with $1.5 million each going to the Cape Coral Animal Shelter, the Gulf Coast Humane Society, and SNIP Collier.
His donations also went to organizations tackling community needs, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and healthcare.
Golisano’s overall donations this year come to $500 million so far, while his lifetime philanthropic contributions now total more than $860 million.
Golisano is worth $5.6 billion, according to Forbes estimates. He founded Paychex in 1971 with $3,000 in starting capital; the company had a market capitalization of over $50 billion at the time of writing.