Lindros makes No. 9 on list of most generous stars, Oprah tops
Last Updated: Friday, September 12, 2008 | 5:15 PM ET
CBC News
U.S. talk show host Oprah Winfrey, left, is surrounded by pupils at the opening of the Seven Fountains Primary School in Kokstad, South Africa, this March. Her foundations support education, including building of schools. (Associated Press) Retired hockey player Eric Lindros is among the world's top 10 most generous celebrities.
Lindros made No. 9 on the list, which is compiled annually by The Giving Back Fund, after contributing $5 million to the London Health Sciences Centre, a London, Ont.-based hospital where he was treated.
The fund released the list Friday.
Lindros played in the National Hockey League for 16 years, most notably with the Philadelphia Flyers.
He tied in generosity with other sports stars — basketball player Michael Jordan, who gave to a Chicago school, and cyclist Lance Armstrong, who gave to cancer research.
Oprah Winfrey topped the new list and was named the world's most generous star.
Winfrey, who has been named highest-paid TV host and made the Forbes list of most powerful celebrities, gave $50.2 million US in 2007 through her foundations.
The popular day-time host backs the Oprah Winfrey Foundation and Oprah's Angel Network, which fund education, health care and advocacy for women and children.
A distant second on the list is trumpeter Herb Alpert, whose Herb Alpert Foundation invests in education, including music lessons. He gave a total of $13 million US.
The top 10 on The Giving Back Fund's list:
- Oprah Winfrey, $50.2 million US.
- Herb Alpert, $13 million US.
- Barbra Streisand, $11 million US.
- Paul Newman, $10 million US.
- Mel Gibson, $9.9 million US.
- Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, $8.4 million US.
- Lance Armstrong, $5 million US.
- Michael Jordan, $5 million US.
- Eric Lindros, $5 million US.
- Rush Limbaugh, $4.2 million US.
