For most of his life, Chuck Feeney was actually value billions. But over the last six a long time, his wealth has steadily declined, leaving him with only a fraction of the funds he’d gathered after establishing the idea of duty-free procuring. What occurred? Did he lose all of it within the Great Recession? Lose it in a nasty divorce?
No. He gave it away. He’s donated greater than $eight billion throughout his lifetime to assist points near his coronary heart in not solely the
Feeney has donated greater than $eight billion throughout his lifetime to assist points near his coronary heart in not solely the U.S., but additionally Australia, Europe and Asia. And he will get to enhance the lives of tens of millions as a result of the tasks he targets – greater training, public well being, human rights and scientific analysis – have an effect on folks across the globe.
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“I’m not here to tell anybody what they should do with their money – if you make your money, you do what you want with it,” says the publicity-shy New Jersey native, whose quiet generosity was “outed” about 20 years in the past. “But I feel there may be an obligation, definitely for the ‘haves’ to succeed in out and see what they’ll do.”
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While serving within the U.S. Air Force within the 1950s, Feeney and a pal from faculty began promoting duty-free liquor to U.S. naval personnel in Asia. The enterprise did so effectively that they quickly expanded their line to incorporate automobiles and tobacco, and their market ultimately reached into Hong Kong, Europe and different factors across the globe.
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He and his associate ultimately based the Duty Free Shoppers Group (DFSG), which is chargeable for the unbelievable offers many vacationers discover at airports worldwide.
In 1982, Feeney created a non-profit, The Atlantic Philanthropies. By that point, he owned greater than a one-third stake in DFSG with a complete value of about $500 million. But unbeknownst to his associate, Robert Miller, he transferred these stakes to Atlantic. In flip, the group started distributing funds to different organizations, however on the situation that they chorus from revealing from the place the cash originated.
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His alma mater Cornell alone has obtained practically $2 billion from Atlantic, together with $7 million final 12 months to assist college students doing neighborhood service work. His cash has additionally been used to finance the development of roughly 1,000 buildings throughout 5 continents – but none bear his title.
“The most important thing for him now is to spread the gospel of giving while living and to influence more people who have money to give it away, and to give it away wisely,” stated John Healy, former CEO and president of The Atlantic Philanthropies.
Watch the video beneath to listen to extra about this extremely humble and beneficiant philanthropist, and share to unfold his message of giving whereas dwelling!
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