[ad_1]
Subscribe to the Epidemic Newsletter
We send you what you need to know about the epidemic every day of the week. Sign up and take care!
Chuck Feeney achieved his goal: Even in his lifetime, he had successfully distributed his $ 8 billion fortune, and so he could see the results of the grants he offered.
According to an article in The Guardian, Irish-American Feeney, who became a billionaire by establishing a chain of duty-free shops, has consistently distributed his wealth to charities and universities for the past 38 years. His goal from the beginning was to get through it all, leaving practically not a penny behind.
That came true this week: Atlantic Philanthropies, a charity set up by Feeney in 1982, has now announced that it has run out of money. Feeney, who was in poor health, as he signed the documents necessary to liquidate the foundation, said he was very pleased that the foundation had achieved its goal while he could still see it.
The man lives in a tiny rental apartment in San Francisco, from there he sends a message to billionaires who are thinking of putting their wealth to good use, but only after his death. Feeney says it would be worth doing in their lifetime, he thinks they’ll love it.
Feeney has secretly distributed much of his wealth, but as she said, she hopes her example will help other billionaires around the world solve their biggest problems. “Wealth comes with responsibility,” he often said, while the foundation’s president, Chrsiopther Oechsli, said that Feeney didn’t want to preach to other very rich people in the world, but that he never understood why they had so many expensive yachts or shoes and why they accumulated so much wealth. when everyone needs help.
Feeney rarely gave interviews, but in 2010 he told Irish RTE that he always sympathized with those who had a hard time and that the world was full of people who had nothing to eat. The man was known to have a moderate life, did not have a car or home, and always had only one pair of shoes and wore a $ 10 Casio watch. If he had to travel, he always flew second class, even if his relatives or colleagues they were traveling on the same flight in first class.
Oeschsli had been an employee of Feeney for more than 30 years, and said his boss once tried the luxury lifestyle at the time, but felt it wasn’t for him. So he bought an expensive house and a couple of expensive items, but he just wasn’t comfortable with them.
The Guardian reports that the Duty Free Shoppers (DFS) chain became extremely valuable in the early 1980s, when Feeney became a billionaire, but secretly transferred his shares to a foundation. It is said that he spoke at the time that he had no idea what he could do with so much money and not even spend it.
Interestingly, DFS co-founder Robert Miller defended money quite differently – to date, she has a wealth of $ 6 billion, making her the 293rd richest person in the world and owns luxury property in Hong Kong, New York, Paris and Switzerland along with Yorkshire. and a 14,000 acre farm.
The two men had not spoken to each other since 1996, when Feeney sold the last remaining shares of the luxury brand LVMH. Then the case went to court and it also turned out that Feeney transferred her property to a charity.
As for where the money goes, Feeney has supported colleges of higher education totaling $ 3.7 billion over the decades (nearly $ 1 billion from Cornell University, where he was able to study hotel management for free ) and $ 870 million for human rights organizations such as those that have fought for the abolition of the death penalty or the introduction of universal health insurance.
A significant portion of his wealth has been spent in Ireland and Northern Ireland, more than $ 1.9 billion. In addition to facilitating a peace agreement between the two countries, he also embarked on the cost of establishing a university. She rarely appeared in public life, but in 2003 she participated in a protest in London against the Iraq war.
Feeney’s charity also reportedly influenced Bill Gates and Warren Buffett’s joint initiative, the Giving Pledge, in which several of the world’s richest people pledged to donate at least half of their wealth to charity. .
[ad_2]
