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LOS ANGELES (ANN): An 89-year-old entrepreneur and philanthropist finally achieved his goal of donating his $ 8 billion fortune before he died.
Charles “Chuck” Feeney, co-founder of the airport retailer Duty Free Shoppers, distributed the amount to various charities over the past 38 years.
He completed his generous mission on Sept. 14 through his organization, The Atlantic Philanthropies, according to an exclusive Forbes report the next day.
Feeney started the foundation in 1982 to help him share more than half of his wealth. Now that she has managed to give it away, she officially closed the organization after almost four decades of operation.
About $ 3.7 billion of his fortune went to education, including $ 1 billion for his alma mater, Cornell University. Meanwhile, he donated $ 870 million to human rights and social change efforts like Obamacare and grants to abolish the death penalty in the United States.
More than $ 700 million also went to medicine and research, such as the Global Brain Health Institute in California and public healthcare in Vietnam, according to the report.
Although he has donated billions of dollars, he has set aside about $ 2 million for his and his wife’s retirement.
Upon completion of her mission, Feeney said she has “learned a lot” by managing her foundation and donating to different causes.
“We would do some things differently, but I am very satisfied. I feel great about completing this on my shift, ”he told the publication.
Along with his founding, Feeney also pioneered the “Give While You Live” business approach to philanthropy. This involves giving part of the fortune to charities before death so that the donor can decide where the money is spent.
“I see little reason to delay giving when so much good can be accomplished by supporting worthy causes,” he said in a 2019 report. “Plus, it’s so much more fun to give while you live than to give while you’re dead.”
Feeney’s approach has also influenced the philanthropy of tycoons Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.
“He is a model for all of us,” Buffett said. “It will take me 12 years after my death to do what he is doing during his life.” – Philippine Daily Inquirer / Asia News Network
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