The Philanthropist is the story of Adrienne Morgan, a wealthy aristocrat who is a member of the upper echelon of the richest one percent of the world in the year 2050. Adrienne is living a life of luxury in the midst of an economic crisis which has unfolded in a dystopian progression from WW III through the imposition of a world government and a world currency. While abundance for the planet is within humanity's reach, even for the poorest "bottom" billion people, ignorance, greed, fear, and crime stand in the way. Adrienne begins to question the legitimacy of the society in which she lives after her brother disappears. Just as she's about to be engaged to be married, she meets Evan Golding, a college professor and Zen master. Golding mentors her and helps her fill a vacuum in the leadership of international society. He helps her to uncover the truth about her rarefied world and her family's secret stolen sources of wealth, and guides her as she becomes a leader of her generation as it overcomes decades of extreme inequality.