Sir Tom Hunter

The sexy chap you see pictured on the right has today announced that he is to give £1 billion to charity. It will be he single biggest philanthropic act in British history.

Sir Tom Hunter is estimated to be worth £1.05 billion and is the first self-made billionaire in Scotland. Whether his announcement was designed to coincide with the Rowntree Foundation’s report on Britain’s growing inequality is not clear, but he has said that he intends for the money to be spent mostly on tackling this problem.

But did you notice the significance of the figures?

He has committed himself to handing away practically his entire fortune. Sure £0.05 billion is usually enough for most people to live on, but I wonder how many other billionaires have ever taken it upon themselves to give away so much, as a percentage, of their actual wealth?