Bill and Melinda Gates Top 'Social Philanthropists' Ranking

Of the world's top philanthropists, Bill and Melinda Gates command the largest social media audience, a report from Portland Communications finds.

Released as part of a report on Communicating Global Giving, the rankings analyzed the social media accounts of the top 100 philanthropists globally in terms of dollars donated to charitable causes and ranked the 50 with the largest audiences on eight platforms. With 45 million followers across all platforms, the Gateses and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation had the broadest social media reach overall, ranking first on Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and Weibo, followed by Richard Branson and Virgin Unite (first on LinkedIn and second on Twitter, Instagram, and Google+), and George Soros and the Open Society Foundation (third on Instagram and Weibo). Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and his Dubai-based foundation ranked first on Instagram and fourth overall, while Larry Page and the Carl Victor Page Memorial Foundation ranked first on Google+ and 28th overall.