Hi Readers,
I have never heard about this 84 year old Guy before and I am quite sure a very few people have heard about him. Don't blame yourself if you haven't heard his name ever.
His name is Charles Chuck Feeny.
You must have heard about Duty Free Shoppers Group (DFS group) a major luxury travel retailer. This outlet can be seen easily on Airports. Charles Feeney is co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers.
Despite being the founder of a multi billionaire company DFS, he stayed determinedly under the radar.
But this is not the reason about Feeney's fame. His glory is because of his Philanthropic nature. He founded a company called Atlantic Philanthropies in 1982 in Bermuda and Feeney is known as James Bond of philanthropy.
He is the biggest Philanthropist people know nothing about. The reclusive former Billionaire not only decided to give away all his wealth in his own lifetime, but also leads a life of disarming simplicity.
As of October 2012, Atlantic has made grants totaling more than $6.2 billion since 1982 under supreme secrecy and plans to spend its remaining $1.3 billion by 2016. Atlantic would be wounded up in 2020. Feeney famously said "I would like my last cheque to bounce". When the Atlantic Philanthropies deos wind down in 2020, it would have given away Feeney's entire wealth to support a wide variety of causes including health, education, human rights across several countries. No one else have given away his entire fortune and that is too while they are still alive and breathing.
Feeney philosophies can be judged by reading through what he says:
"I had one idea that never changed in my mind—that you should use your wealth to help people. I try to live a normal life, the way I grew up, I set out to work hard, not to get rich."
He made his own children work their ways through college and his name does not appear on any institutional building anywhere in the world. His intended goal is to give every last penny away before he dies.
Chuck Feeney's personal example has changed the world in ways that we probably can't even imagine yet. A true inspiration.
Timeline:
1982: Makes first grant of $7 million to Cornell. Total gifts will reach $937 million.
1984: Transfers his 38.75% DFS ownership to Atlantic.
1988: Gives $142,000 to support the Cancer Research Institute.? Worldwide cancer grants will hit $370 million.
1990: Atlantic makes its first grant to University of Limerick to construct advanced research, conference and cultural facilities. Lifetime grants: $170 million.
1991: Funds peace-building and reconciliation in Northern Ireland.
1997: Feeney goes public about his charity activities.
1999: Invests in Vietnam in the areas of higher education and health care.?
2001: Funds biomedical research at Australia’s Queensland U. of Technology; Total Aussie medical grants: $320 million.
2002: Makes grant for South Africa AIDS relief: has invested over $117 million in South African health care.
2004: Begins funding efforts to abolish the death penalty in the U .S. –has invested $28 million to date.
2006: Starts efforts to ensure health coverage for the almost 8 million uninsured children in the U .S.
2008: Makes $125 million grant for medical center at the University of California, San Francisco Mission Bay campus. Total UCSF grants: $290.5 million.
2012: With a $350 million investment, supports Cornell’s winning bid to develop NYC Tech Campus on Roosevelt Island.
2016: Will complete $1.3 billion worth of grants.
2020: The Atlantic Philanthropies will close.
Book:
http://www.amazon.in/Billionaire-Who-Wasnt-Secretly-Fortune/dp/1610393341/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_pap?ie=UTF8&qid=1406135073&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Billionaire+Who+Wasn%27t
Please Add comments if you like it. Not about the post but about this Great Man - CHUCK FEENEY
I have never heard about this 84 year old Guy before and I am quite sure a very few people have heard about him. Don't blame yourself if you haven't heard his name ever.
His name is Charles Chuck Feeny.
You must have heard about Duty Free Shoppers Group (DFS group) a major luxury travel retailer. This outlet can be seen easily on Airports. Charles Feeney is co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers.
Despite being the founder of a multi billionaire company DFS, he stayed determinedly under the radar.
But this is not the reason about Feeney's fame. His glory is because of his Philanthropic nature. He founded a company called Atlantic Philanthropies in 1982 in Bermuda and Feeney is known as James Bond of philanthropy.
He is the biggest Philanthropist people know nothing about. The reclusive former Billionaire not only decided to give away all his wealth in his own lifetime, but also leads a life of disarming simplicity.
As of October 2012, Atlantic has made grants totaling more than $6.2 billion since 1982 under supreme secrecy and plans to spend its remaining $1.3 billion by 2016. Atlantic would be wounded up in 2020. Feeney famously said "I would like my last cheque to bounce". When the Atlantic Philanthropies deos wind down in 2020, it would have given away Feeney's entire wealth to support a wide variety of causes including health, education, human rights across several countries. No one else have given away his entire fortune and that is too while they are still alive and breathing.
Feeney philosophies can be judged by reading through what he says:
"I had one idea that never changed in my mind—that you should use your wealth to help people. I try to live a normal life, the way I grew up, I set out to work hard, not to get rich."
"I see little reason to delay giving when so much good can be achieved through supporting worthwhile causes today."
“People used to ask me how I got my jollies, and I guess I’m happy when what I’m doing is helping people and unhappy when what I’m doing isn’t helping people.”
Feeny's idea is "Giving while Living" has inspired many others including Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.
"Giving while dead, you don't feel anything"
What makes Feeney's story unusual is not just the fact that he decided to donate his entire wealth, which itself is extraordinary but how despite his billions made frugality the hallmark of his life. He never owned a house. He lives in his foundation owned Apartment in San Francisco. No luxury timepieces for his. He wears a casio rubber watch. He dresses shabbily and carries his papers in a shopping or plastic bag. If his glasses break, he takes them over to be fixed.
Feeney could afford to live like an emperor, yet he owns no property, flies economy class, dresses off-the-peg and wears a $15 plastic watch.
Feeney's friend Niall O'Dowd, who has know Feeney for more than 25 years, didn't know Feeney was rich until he was featured in Forbes magazine as one of the richest men in the world. Dowd wrote in his blog that Feeney acted poor. His insights were incredible.
He lavishes hundreds of millions of dollars on universities and hospitals but won’t allow even a small plaque identifying him as a donor. “We just didn’t want to be blowing our horn,” he explains in a rare interview at his daughter’s Upper East Side apartment.
He funded reconciliation in Northern Ireland and South Africa. He helped cure disease in Vietnam. He’s fought for better education and health care in the United States. He’s given more than $350 million to Cornell, his alma mater. And he’s been a mentor to countless philanthropists in recent years who want to learn how to be more effective charitable givers.
As of July 2013, 113 individual billionaires and couples have singed what is now known as "The Giving Pledge", a promise to give half their fortunes to charity. The first 40 donors alone pledged a combine $120 billion in donations. Over the next 20-30 years, that amount could grow by an additional $100-$200 billion!
Feeney, an Irish-American with dual citizenship, was born in New Jersey during the Great Depression and came from a modest background of blue collar Irish-American parents in Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA.
Feeney first showed a propensity for business at the age of 10, when he sold Christmas cards door-to-door.
He served as a U.S. Air Force radio operator during the Korean War, and began his career selling duty-free liquor to US Naval personnel at Mediterranean ports in the 1950s.
He graduated from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. In 2010 he received the Cornell Icon of Industry Award.
In 2012, in an historic event, all the universities of Ireland, North and South, jointly conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Laws on Feeney. During the year, he also received the Republic of Ireland’s Presidential Distinguished Service Award for Irish Abroad,and the UCSF Medal for outstanding personal contributions to the University of California, San Francisco’s health science mission.
Feeney has four daughters and one son. Two of the daughters are Diane V. Feeney and Leslie D. Feeney Baily. He married twice. His first wife, Danielle, from France, retained 100 million USD and a number of mansions and apartments after their 1990 separation and subsequent divorce.. His second wife is named Helga.
“People used to ask me how I got my jollies, and I guess I’m happy when what I’m doing is helping people and unhappy when what I’m doing isn’t helping people.”
Feeny's idea is "Giving while Living" has inspired many others including Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.
"Giving while dead, you don't feel anything"
What makes Feeney's story unusual is not just the fact that he decided to donate his entire wealth, which itself is extraordinary but how despite his billions made frugality the hallmark of his life. He never owned a house. He lives in his foundation owned Apartment in San Francisco. No luxury timepieces for his. He wears a casio rubber watch. He dresses shabbily and carries his papers in a shopping or plastic bag. If his glasses break, he takes them over to be fixed.
Feeney could afford to live like an emperor, yet he owns no property, flies economy class, dresses off-the-peg and wears a $15 plastic watch.
Feeney's friend Niall O'Dowd, who has know Feeney for more than 25 years, didn't know Feeney was rich until he was featured in Forbes magazine as one of the richest men in the world. Dowd wrote in his blog that Feeney acted poor. His insights were incredible.
He lavishes hundreds of millions of dollars on universities and hospitals but won’t allow even a small plaque identifying him as a donor. “We just didn’t want to be blowing our horn,” he explains in a rare interview at his daughter’s Upper East Side apartment.
He funded reconciliation in Northern Ireland and South Africa. He helped cure disease in Vietnam. He’s fought for better education and health care in the United States. He’s given more than $350 million to Cornell, his alma mater. And he’s been a mentor to countless philanthropists in recent years who want to learn how to be more effective charitable givers.
As of July 2013, 113 individual billionaires and couples have singed what is now known as "The Giving Pledge", a promise to give half their fortunes to charity. The first 40 donors alone pledged a combine $120 billion in donations. Over the next 20-30 years, that amount could grow by an additional $100-$200 billion!
Feeney, an Irish-American with dual citizenship, was born in New Jersey during the Great Depression and came from a modest background of blue collar Irish-American parents in Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA.
Feeney first showed a propensity for business at the age of 10, when he sold Christmas cards door-to-door.
He served as a U.S. Air Force radio operator during the Korean War, and began his career selling duty-free liquor to US Naval personnel at Mediterranean ports in the 1950s.
He graduated from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. In 2010 he received the Cornell Icon of Industry Award.
In 2012, in an historic event, all the universities of Ireland, North and South, jointly conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Laws on Feeney. During the year, he also received the Republic of Ireland’s Presidential Distinguished Service Award for Irish Abroad,and the UCSF Medal for outstanding personal contributions to the University of California, San Francisco’s health science mission.
Feeney has four daughters and one son. Two of the daughters are Diane V. Feeney and Leslie D. Feeney Baily. He married twice. His first wife, Danielle, from France, retained 100 million USD and a number of mansions and apartments after their 1990 separation and subsequent divorce.. His second wife is named Helga.
He made his own children work their ways through college and his name does not appear on any institutional building anywhere in the world. His intended goal is to give every last penny away before he dies.
Chuck Feeney's personal example has changed the world in ways that we probably can't even imagine yet. A true inspiration.
Timeline:
1982: Makes first grant of $7 million to Cornell. Total gifts will reach $937 million.
1984: Transfers his 38.75% DFS ownership to Atlantic.
1988: Gives $142,000 to support the Cancer Research Institute.? Worldwide cancer grants will hit $370 million.
1990: Atlantic makes its first grant to University of Limerick to construct advanced research, conference and cultural facilities. Lifetime grants: $170 million.
1991: Funds peace-building and reconciliation in Northern Ireland.
1997: Feeney goes public about his charity activities.
1999: Invests in Vietnam in the areas of higher education and health care.?
2001: Funds biomedical research at Australia’s Queensland U. of Technology; Total Aussie medical grants: $320 million.
2002: Makes grant for South Africa AIDS relief: has invested over $117 million in South African health care.
2004: Begins funding efforts to abolish the death penalty in the U .S. –has invested $28 million to date.
2006: Starts efforts to ensure health coverage for the almost 8 million uninsured children in the U .S.
2008: Makes $125 million grant for medical center at the University of California, San Francisco Mission Bay campus. Total UCSF grants: $290.5 million.
2012: With a $350 million investment, supports Cornell’s winning bid to develop NYC Tech Campus on Roosevelt Island.
2016: Will complete $1.3 billion worth of grants.
2020: The Atlantic Philanthropies will close.
Book:
http://www.amazon.in/Billionaire-Who-Wasnt-Secretly-Fortune/dp/1610393341/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_pap?ie=UTF8&qid=1406135073&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Billionaire+Who+Wasn%27t
Please Add comments if you like it. Not about the post but about this Great Man - CHUCK FEENEY
