The endowment of the Minderoo Foundation in Australia is expected to grow to approximately A$40 billion ($25.94 billion) by the end of the decade as Andrew and Nicola Forrest continue to donate their shares of Fortescue Limited to the foundation they established in 2001, the Australian Financial Review reports.

According to the Australian Financial Review, the couple, who separated last year, appear to be adhering to the 2013 commitment they made to the Giving Pledge. A June 2023 donation of more than 220 million shares of Fortescue, representing about a fifth of their total holdings in the mining company, boosted Minderoo’s endowment from A$2.6 billion ($1.69 billion) to about A$7.6 billion ($4.9 billion). The total endowment currently stands at approximately A$10 billion ($6.49 billion) based on increases in the Fortescue share price, dividend payments, and other investments.

Spending A$225 million ($146 million) in 2023, the foundation topped this year’s Financial Review Philanthropy 50 list, marking the first time it has been Australia’s biggest-spending foundation since the list was first published in 2017. Last week, the foundation shed about 100 jobs—roughly a third of its workforce—in a reset that CEO John Hartman indicated was aimed at ensuring as much funding reaches beneficiaries as possible. To that end, Hartman has signaled Minderoo’s annual expenditure could more than double in the next few years.

“Minderoo’s capacity to affect meaningful change dramatically increased when the Forrests became the first Australians to sign the Giving Pledge and generously donated an historic A$5 billion to the foundation [last June],” Hartman told the Australian Financial Review. “Such a generous flow of philanthropic capital alone does not guarantee results nor impact. We have made a tangible difference in the lives of countless Australians and people around the world in the past 23 years, [and] we must continue to rigorously hold ourselves to account.”

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