Scottish philanthropists gave almost £230m to charity according to an annual report on the richest people in the UK.
The author JK Rowling, creator of the Harry Potter novels, ranks second in the list of celebrity donors with £10.3m generated and donated by her two charities in the past year.
The Sunday Times Giving List revealed that wealthy people this year have made a record number of charitable donations each worth more than £1m, with Sir Elton John and David Beckham also emerging as the most generous celebrities.
Rowling founded and is president of the Lumos Foundation and also established Volant Charitable Trust, which backs research into multiple sclerosis.
Other wealthy Scots who give money to charity include Sir Ian Wood, who has given £5m and promised £25m in total to Opportunitu North East, an economic development body.
Wood gave £14m to his Wood Foundation charity in the last year as well as giving money to Robert Gordon University and Robert Gordon's College.
Stagecoach founders Sir Brian Souter and Ann Gloag have generated or donated more than £20m for charity in the last year.
Lord Laidlaw, Irvine Laidlaw, has given more than £10m in the last year, including a significant donation to Columbia Business School.
Sir Tom Hunder has made £3.2m in donations in the last year, mostly to his Hunter Foundation that works in Africa and on youth projects in Scotland.
EuroMillions winners Colin and Chris Weir made a £1m donation to the SNP, the joint-largest political donation of the year.
Sir Elton John made charitable donations topping £26m, mainly to AIDS foundations in Britain and America.
Coldplay gifted £1.7m through their J Van Mars Foundation.
The list is sponsored by the Charities Aid Foundation, one of Europe’s largest charitable foundations which helped people give £478m to charities last year.
John Low, Chief Executive of CAF, said: “Young people are the future of giving and the celebrities many people look up to can play a massive role in setting an example and showing how rewarding it is to give.
“Those on the Rich List who give to good causes provide much so more than just financial support.
"When stars from Coldplay and One Direction to Rory Mcilroy and David Beckham give to charity, they send out an important message about the positive impact we can all have by supporting causes we care about."
Almost a fifth (178) of the 1,000 people in The Sunday Times Rich List, to be published next Sunday, have donated at least £1m to charity in the past year.
In total, the wealthy have given away £2.66bn in the past 12 months
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