The Carl Victor Page Memorial Foundation, established by Google co-founder Larry Page and named after his father, has grown from $2.9 billion in assets in 2018 to $6.7 billion in 2021, with nearly all awards directed to donor-advised funds (DAFs), Inside Philanthropy reports.

As a result of the surging share price of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, the below-the-radar foundation has become one of the largest philanthropies in the United States. The foundation awarded more than $600 million in grants between 2017 and 2021, including approximately $227 million distributed across 2020 and 2021. Although the foundation’s 990-PF forms indicate that Page directed nearly $700 million into the foundation over those two years, the increased value of Alphabet shares boosted its endowment by more than $4 billion.

With the exception of relatively small grants to the American Cancer Society and New Venture Fund, the foundation directed 97.8 percent of its grants to DAFs, including accounts at the National Philanthropic Trust and Schwab Charitable Fund.

“The use of DAFs, often in combination with a private foundation, has been growing rapidly, especially by certain Silicon Valley billionaires,” noted Inside Philanthropy. “Page has long been criticized…for operating at the extreme end of this practice.”

(Photo credit: Wikimedia/Marcin Mycielski)