Brad Pitt is unlikely to quit his day job, especially with a houseful of Jolie-Pitt munchkins. And judging from the picture of partner Angelina’s much talked about “bump” during this past weekend’s Independent Spirit Awards, child number five may be on the way.

Crime novelist Patricia Cornwell has learned that even generosity can need an explanation.

Cornwell gave $1 million donation to the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City this month.

But worried that some of her remarks about the gift might be read as demeaning police officers, Cornwell last week spent $250,000 to set the record straight.

The Nuclear Threat Initiative may soon receive a big boost from the deep-pocketed Peter Peterson.

Ellen DeGeneres is like the Big Easy. She’s all about fun. After Hurricane Katrina, add big heart.

Ellen, a native of New Orleans, has raised over $10 million dollars for Katrina relief. In Fat Tuesday’s episode of the Ellen DeGeneres Show, she focused again on Katrina relief efforts. Former President George H. W. Bush sent a videotaped message thanking her for her fundraising.

In the same show, Ellen gave a new GM Acadia to a single mother who lost her home in the hurricane and works 20 hours a day so she could rebuild. She continues to ask her viewers to support Brad Pitt’s Make It Right, a group that hopes to build 150 environmentally friendly homes in the Lower 9th Ward. She has raised over $800,000 for Pitt.

The head of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Patty Stonesifer, told The New York Times that she would step down as head of the world’s largest philanthropic organization by the end of the year.

“It’s the right time,” Stonesifer, 51, told the Times. “We have a lot of momentum now, our strategies are in place, and it’s time to take the organization to the next level where we deliver on those strategies.”

Lev Leviev is perhaps best known as the man who defied De Beers, the mighty cartel that controlled the flow of the world’s supply of rough diamonds.

By doing so, Leviev has become one of the world’s richest men. Close friends claim he’s worth about $8 billion, but Forbes lists him at a conservative $4.1 billion.

And of course, immense wealth almost always makes access easier to the halls of political power. Among his circle of friends are the heads of state of the splintered republics of the former Soviet Union and the African nations of Angola and Namibia.

While visiting his West Coast Limited stores in the late 1970s, Leslie Wexner was intrigued by a shop that sold women’s underwear. It was called Victoria’s Secret.

It was brothel Victorian, he once said in an interview. Not erotic, but very sexy.

Wexner, who left his family’s general clothing store to specialize in women’s casual wear, saw the possibilities. He bought the store and catalog in 1982 for $1 million.

Do a Google search for Dr. Larry Brilliant and you’ll get links to the worlds of medicine, technology, music and religion.

Prominent, too, is a link to Google Inc. itself, as Brilliant, 63, is now the executive director of Google.org, the Internet company’s philanthropic arm.

Andre Agassi

Hey, bowling fans, ever wondered whom to thank for ESPN’s coverage of your once-neglected sport? That’s Steve Miller, who, while president and CEO of the Professional Bowlers Association, negotiated two exclusive television deals with the network.

This week, Miller was named to the newly created post of chief executive officer of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, which is trying to become national in scope.

Alan Schwartz’s predecessor as CEO of Bear Stearns spent too much time on the golf course and at the bridge table, critics say.

That shouldn’t be the case for Schwartz, named to the top spot this week. Besides his demanding job, Schwartz is very involved in philanthropy and community affairs.