Madonna is becoming something of a skinflint. She’s certainly not into using her enormous wealth to help those less fortunate.
After all that talk of her donating millions to Malawi, here’s the way it boils down thanks to a newly obtained tax filing for her Ray of Light Foundation.
According to Ray of Light’s 2008 Form 990, Ray of Light is now worth over $6 million in assets.
But Madonna gave away a total of $459,000 last year. Forbes, on the other hand, placed her annual take at $110 million and put her at number 3 on its celebrity earners list. Her last tour grossed $280 million.
Ray of Light has cut down to just a handful of charities, too. Madonna gave most of that money to Kabbalah or its associated causes. She sent $231,000 to Raising Malawi, which is a front for the Kabbalah Center; $150,000 to Kabbalah’s Spirituality for Kids; and $53,00o to the Gucci Foundation, which in turn was for Raising Malawi.
Her other two charitable contributions were to Jewish Big Brothers/Sisters of Los Angeles ($10,000) and $15,000 to the T. J. Martell Foundation for Cancer Research. Ray of Light actually paid more than that in “investment fees” ($37,000). That’s pretty sad.
What this also means is that in the year, 2008, that Madonna was special guest at AmFar’s Cinema Against AIDS in Cannes, the singer donated no money from Ray of Light to that charity or to any other conducting AIDS research.
She doesn’t even give money to MusiCares or the Grammy Foundation. I guess we can scratch her name as a contender for MusiCares’s Person of the Year.
Madonna fares very poorly by comparison with buddies like Rosie O’Donnell and Barbra Streisand, or even Oprah Winfrey. All of them are professional charity donors of the highest rank. And she’s way behind Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Paul Simon, Steven Spielberg, Sting and Trudie Styler’s Rainforest Foundation, and other charitable minded celebs.
October 20th, 2009 at 3:16 am
Roger why don’t you leave Madonna alone, it’s not your money and furthermore why you sit here and bash Michael Jackson and Madonna on a regular basis, do your rotund behind give to charity? why don’t you do a column outlining what you give to charities, churches, and other organizations, before judging others perhaps you should get YOUR house in order.
October 20th, 2009 at 6:14 am
Didn’t she also donate money to the Italian earthquake victims? I remember hearing about that. I’m not sure Friedman has all the info about her personal finances by simply reviewing one “newly obtained tax filing for her Ray of Light Foundation.” Did he call her management to find out how to get the full picture? He doesn’t say. It looks like he obtained one document and decided to spin that single source as negatively as possible.
October 20th, 2009 at 7:27 am
Roger, this makes for a good headline but it’s worthless. So what? she made $100Mil of which the taxman probably took $40Mil, then her agent took a cut, then she had to pay her nanny, personal assistant, publicist, it goes on and on, and she was probably left with $20Mil. $500K is a damn good amount to give to charity IMO. You need to get off the charity watch. At least she gave SOMETHING!
October 20th, 2009 at 8:11 am
Just because the Ray of Light Foundation only gave $459k DOES NOT mean that Madonna herself only gave that amount–that’s just the amount that her foundation gave. It’s unfair and inaccurate to say that she personally only gave $459k–she could have given much more, without funneling the funds through Ray of Light.
October 20th, 2009 at 9:34 am
[...] Friedman of Showbiz 411 has the dirt: According to Ray of Light’s 2008 Form 990, Ray of Light is now worth over $6 [...]
October 20th, 2009 at 9:49 am
This just reinforces the well known fact that Madonna is an absolutely selfish, horrible person. She’s really rather disgusting. Her cult membership is just the icing on the cake.
October 20th, 2009 at 9:55 am
It is her money and she can do with it what she wants. There is no law that says people should give money away because they make it. She has three kids and I am sure she uses her money on worthwhile endeavors for them plus isn’t she paying alimony to her ex?
I am glad she chose to give to charities. So many other celebs don’t. If she didn’t give a dime she would still be Madonna and I would still enjoy her music.
Next……..
October 20th, 2009 at 10:04 am
[...] Friedman of Showbiz 411 has the dirt: According to Ray of Light’s 2008 Form 990, Ray of Light is now worth over $6 [...]
October 20th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Roger, thanks for this hard-hitting journalism. Can’t wait until you look into Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston’s pre-tax income vs. charitable donations.
October 20th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Raise your hand if you’re shocked…hmmm, don’t see any hands up. I didn’t think I would.
I knew I liked Rosie better, anyway. She, at least, puts her money where her mouth is.
October 20th, 2009 at 10:31 am
I think the point here is that it’s a Foundation that is meant to give out charitable funds but not much is being given, and not that Madonna is cheap.
October 20th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Who cares, madonna as always been selfish and she is an expect at manipulating the press
michael jackson gave over 300 million dollars of his wealth to charity and you guys never acknowledge it instead you focus on his problems both real and manufactured
It’s non of your business what she does with her money,
October 20th, 2009 at 11:06 am
Madonna is not required to give a lot of money, I think it’s her choice. But in fairness, adopting African kids is one of her ways to help.
October 20th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Ben bro..
Actually whitney has donated in excess of $10 mil to various charities (since it was last updated several years ago) in her career and even has the NAACP lifetime achievement award for her contributions and work with the organization. She has donated FREE concerts to the unemployed and Gulf War vets, most notably her best concert IMO was the 1991 Gulf War Welcome Home Heroes concert. Many music historians note that as one of the best vocals of any live concert in music history. The proceeds of the sale of 1991 SSB record and re-release in 2001 went to Gulf war vets. So Ben.. STFU!!
As for Madonna, she is known to be a narcissistic cheap and self centred biotch! Friedman is a little late. He just notices now?! LOL.
October 20th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
I love these reports that you do, Roger. I’m still waiting for Denise Brown to do something with her NBS Foundation.
But the number one skinflint has to be Jay Leno. He gave $100k to his wife’s anti-Taliban charity almost a decade ago and what has he done since?
October 20th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Personally, I think all of this is over the top. It’s a great thing to give to charity, but she does not owe anything to anyone. We should all get what we earn and deserve, and Madonna earned her cash. If she wants to donate a half million, that’s fantastic! But in no way should anyone demand that she gives hand outs. Only in Obamaland….
October 20th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
her crappy voice makes that much money? ridiculous!
October 21st, 2009 at 12:49 am
Wonder how much the so-called ‘reporter’ on this story gave to charity last year? 0? Half-a-million?
Gee, if every American who could afford to donate half-a-million bucks to charity every year actually did, we wouldn’t be setting new records for poverty and homelessness and child hunger every day in this ‘great’ country…
October 21st, 2009 at 5:05 am
How much money have you gave away Roger?
October 21st, 2009 at 6:09 am
Roger job is not to expose himself. He is helping us understand what makes these people tick. We need to know when celebrities talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk. Why do we need to idolize fakers and hypocrites? Keep it up Roger!
October 21st, 2009 at 5:12 pm
If she indeed had $110 million in income last year she paid nearly $40 million in income taxes. That is PLENTY for any one individual to give to charity, and yes income taxes effectively are a charity…
October 21st, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Well……it is “HER” money. And she doesn’t have to give any of it to anyone. There are tons of other millionaires that never give anything. When was the last time anyone offered to help someone on the side of the road with a flat tire? Most idiots just hold up traffic looking at the person stuck there with the flat. I would have to say about 75% of Americans (I am an American so I can only speak from experience) have become selfish, self serving, rude, inconsiderate individuals. Why don’t we stop worrying about what stars are doing and take a look at what is going on in this country. Children are being snatched in broad daylight right in front of people and no one does anything. Our economy is in pits, all of our young men are running off to be slaughtered overseas and the concern of the day is Madonna’s wallet? I got news for you, Madonna does not give a give a darn about my or your opinion on her spending habits or anything else for that matter. Don’t forget….”We are living in a material world, and I am a material (?)” She cleared this up years ago….NEXT
October 21st, 2009 at 5:51 pm
And seriously… why should she have to pay extra? Malawi should consider themselves lucky. Madonna could have gotten two kids for half that price had she gone to Rwanda.
October 21st, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Granted it might be a small percentage, but $459,000 is still an enormous sum of money. I’d bet those commenting haven’t given even 10% of that.
October 21st, 2009 at 6:30 pm
I agree with Trey here, but Madonna may not give wholly through the Ray of Light organization. She may donate personally to other organizations and not want all of the publicity for it.
October 21st, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Roger: After seeing how several institutions have mishandled other people’s money, I would be very careful who I donate to and how much.
Madonna is a smart woman, and you cannot blame her for being careful and reserved.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:17 pm
She didn’t have to give a thing. Be glad she gave something. I know the charity is not going to say… ‘That bitch… only giving us a half a million dollars.’
October 21st, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Afghanistan Relief Organization
* American Foundation for AIDS Research
* BID 2 BEAT AIDS
* Bony Pony Ranch
* Charity Projects Entertainment Fund
* Children in Need
* Children of Peace
* H.E.L.P. Malawi
* Live Earth
* Make-A-Wish Foundation
* Millennium Promise Alliance
* Millennium Villages
* Raisa Gorbachev Foundation
* Treatment Action Campaign
* UN Millennium Project
These are some of the charities that Madonna donates to, outside of her Ray of Light foundation. Would you mind to also finding out how much that she has given to those charities Roger?
October 22nd, 2009 at 8:53 am
To all of those that say “it’s none of our business what she does with her money,” this isn’t about how she spends her money, but that she talks a good game but is lite when it comes time to put her money where her mouth is.
@frank rizzo: you do know that the median salary in the US is something like 45k, right? 10% of 500k is 50k, so it is not possible for a person making 45k to even donate that much. your point is complete crap, try again
October 23rd, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Madonna’s fans are aware of how much the woman gives to charity. It’s quite a lot and Roger is always trying to make her look bad. She could cure cancer and Roger would have a problem with it, then go cash the check he receives from Mariah Carey.
October 24th, 2009 at 1:06 am
Charity is charity, no matter the amount. It is solely the giver’s prerogative.
Anyway, isn’t she building a school in Malawi? And hasn’t she adopted two African kids?
No one should be shamed for giving. Shame on you Roger!
November 5th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
The gull! This is more than a bit deceptive. That’s only one organization she has and it doesn’t take into account personal donations. All you are reporting is what she gave through the Ray Of Light Foundation, an organization she currently has $6.5-8.5 million in (money she alone donated) and which donated $3.5 million just the year prior to your reported year, which you conveniently didn’t mention. She made $110 million and gave back probably $45-50 million in taxes, which often go to support social programs in the US. Furthermore, she paid anywhere between $75-95 million dollars to Guy Ritchie in divorce settlements. She’s given millions to Malawi over the years as well as to tons of other charities since the 80s, from AIDS, cancer, children’s hospitals, Make-A-Wish, 9/11 victims families, Tsunami victims, Italian earthquake victims, Gypsy children’s education fund, and many, many organizations. Raising Malawi is doing a lot (with Madonna’s help) for thousands of children and adults in that country. Her own two adopted Malawian children attend private school in NYC along with her other two children. And she’s helping to build a $15 million academy which hopes to create female doctors, scientists, and math & science teachers. She has hardly mentioned her charity work, it was really until the last few years when she founded Raising Malawi that she started being more outspoken, but she has never gloated about her donations. Finally, it’s her hard-earned money and she is not required to give a single cent.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
She gives almost half a million dollars to charities and you’re bitching about it… lol. She has a choice, she could choose not to give any of her wealth at all, which she doesn’t. People buy her albums and music because they like her and her music. It’s true she’s worth a lot of money, and whatever she’s spending on charities is great. Let’s be nicer towards her social work
November 16th, 2009 at 5:12 am
Who REALLY knows how much she gives.. The real issue here is that she is in and heavily supports Kabbalah which is the path to hell.
February 13th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Sorry, but I don’t agree with some comments on here about madonna being a charitable person. “Its her money and at least she donates some of it.’ WTF?
Look, the way I see it, if all the super rich folk on this God-forsaken planet…the likes of Madona, Oprah winfrey,Roman ambrovovich…etc, etc, each gave a good third of their money (Oh come on, they wouldn’t miss it!) then not only would there be enough money to save Haiti but bloody well rebuild it.
That’s what I call charity…not a token offer (which is mostly for tax purposes anyway) but each putting a good third of their money so that the acheivable can be achieved.
Also, all this “songs for Haiti” crap, all I see is a way for the rich singers out there to record a song for charity and get us to buy it. Yes, the money goes to Haiti (some of it) but the point is, the rich artists on the CDs walk around thinking THEY’VE done a good deed when its actually us whose forking out for it.
Don’t care if you don’t agree, this is the way I feel about it.
February 13th, 2010 at 10:55 pm
Sally in Chicago: WTF? You think $500,000 dollars is a good donation from some tight ass earning 100mill for prancing around on stage? Really?
Jesus, get a brain.