A Billionaire Who Wanted To Die Broke...
Charles “Chuck” Feeney was an entrepreneur who amassed billions co-founding the company Duty Free Shoppers in 1960, a high end retailer of luxury goods found at major airport hubs across the world.
Many of us dream of becoming a billionaire, thinking about how we would spend our money and all of the things we could do with it. Such wealth could open the door to endless possibilities. Chuck did not eat meals not at high end New York City restaurants sipping on rare and expensive bottles of wine, but instead frequented a local Irish tavern eating burgers.
Congratulations to Chuck Feeney for $8 billion of philanthropic giving.
Chuck gave away over $8 billion of his money for philanthropic purposes and did so while mostly remaining anonymous. He started The Atlantic Philanthropies in 1982 as the company through which his donations would be carried out from. In 1984, Chuck transferred all of his shares from Duty Free Shoppers over to The Atlantic Philanthropies without anyone being aware, even his partner Robert Miller who co founded DFS. He did not let the world know he was donating millions of money and the recipients of such money were not allowed to disclose the source of their donations.
In 2016, Feeney gave away his last $7 million to his Alma mater Cornell University, who received over $1 billion in total donations from Atlantic Philanthropies. Atlantic has over 300 employees across with 10 offices across the globe during its height, and on September 14, 2020, Feeney completed his four-decade mission and signed the documents to shutter the Atlantic Philanthropies.
Our giving is based on the opportunities, not a plan to stay in business for a long time.
You can read the full story on Forbes.com.
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Show of hands, how many think about giving it all away?
