Global wealth has never been higher — nor has giving. In 2025, for the first time, there are more than 3,000 billionaires, with a combined fortune of $16.1 trillion — up roughly $2 trillion in a single year. At the same time, philanthropy in the United States surged to unprecedented levels, with charitable giving peaking in 2024 at $592.5 billion.
As fortunes swell, the ultrawealthy are turning to an army of advisers to help guide them as they distribute their funds. Perhaps the best known is Bridgespan Group, sprung from the global consulting firm Bain & Company and famous for helping Mackenzie Scott disburse $9 billion, but there are others — power players such as Arabella Advisors and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, or RPA, in addition to single-shingle outfits that number into the hundreds or even thousands.
While the idea of advisers isn’t new, several factors have contributed to their increased influence in recent years, said Peter Frumkin, academic director of the Gradel Institute of Charity at New College, Oxford University.