Huang Rulun

For the last decade, the 62-year-old has ranked in the top 10 of China’s donors with handouts totalling 3.5 billion yuan, gaining him the title of China’s Carnegie. Forced to drop out of school at 15, the property magnate now gives generously towards education and poverty relief, including 150 million yuan last year towards building the art museum at Beijing’s Tsinghua University.