Driven by a belief that the best use of one's wealth is to help people, one man secretly spent $8 Billion helping others and lived to see every last penny of it spent. This is the remarkable, true story of Charles (Chuck) Feeney, the man behind ‘Giving While Living’.
Chuck Feeney on Giving While Living Video (4 minutes).
Secret Billionaire - The Chuck Feeney Story
Highlights of Chuck's Career (mainly from the Timeline at The Atlantic Philanthropies)
1931 - Charles ‘Chuck’ Feeney was born in New Jersey during the Great Depression.
1949 - As a 17 year old he enlists and serves in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War.
1956 - Graduates from Cornell School of Hotel Administration.
1960 - Co-Founds Duty Free Shoppers (DFS) with Robert Warren Miller.
1980 - Founds General Atlantic, a private investment firm to invest his philanthropic funds.
1982 - Founds The Atlantic Philanthropies to make grants. Based in Bermuda - it operates anonymously for its first 15 years.
1982 - Makes first grant to Cornell University for scholarship program.
1984 - Irrevocably transfers his 38.75% stake in DFS, and virtually all of his wealth to Atlantic Philanthropies.
1990 - Makes grant to University of Limerick to build research, conference and cultural facilities.
1991 - Begins funding peace-building and reconciliation in Northern Ireland.
1996 - Sells his 38.75% stake in DFS for $1.6 billion, bringing Atlantic's endowment to $3.9 billion.
1997 - Ends Atlantic's anonymity in an interview in The New York Times.
1998 - Begins partnership with Irish government to fund university research and create a knowledge economy.
1998 - Supports and participates in the Belfast Agreement, leading to peace and a new system of government in Northern Ireland.
1999 - Invests in Vietnam in the areas of higher education and health care.
2001 - Funds biomedical research in Queensland, Australia leading to hundreds of medical breakthroughs.
2002 - Starts grant-making in South Africa, focusing on health, post-apartheid reconciliation & human rights.
2004 - Begins funding in Cuba to share its successful & cost-effective healthcare model with the world.
2007 - Launches authorized biography The Billionaire Who Wasn’t by Conor O'Clery.
2008 - Makes $125 million grant for medical center at the University of California, San Francisco Mission Bay.
2011 - Bill Gates & Warren Buffett are inspired by Chuck Feeney and found the Giving Pledge, which Feeney later signs – even though he had already given his fortune away in 1984.
2011 - Kickstarts Cornell’s winning bid to develop NYC Tech Campus on Roosevelt Island with $350 million.
2012 - Receives honorary doctorate degree from all nine universities across Ireland.
2015 - Establishes the Global Brain Health Institute to build a generation of leaders to tackle dementia.
2016 - By the time Atlantic makes its last grants in 2016, it will have invested over $8 Billion globally.
Chuck Feeney Quotes from Quoteswise
If I can get a watch for $15 that keeps perfect time, what am I doing messing around with a Rolex?
Money has an attraction for some people, but you can’t wear two pairs of shoes at one time.
I simply decided I had enough money.
[On cultivating a frugal lifestyle, wearing a cheap Timex watch and buying a second hand Volvo] I just reached the conclusion with myself that money, buying boats and all the trimmings, didn’t appeal to me.
[On picking up rubbish in the street] If everybody picked up trash, there would be no trash on the streets.
[On naming rights for buildings] It doesn’t matter whose name is on a library as long as there is a library there for people.
If I have $10 in my pocket, and I do something with it today, it’s already producing ten dollars’ worth of good. The dollar you give today can be doing good tomorrow, giving 5 percent of it doesn’t do so much good.
I wouldn’t be comfortable in an 8,000-square-foot home. You couldn’t find anybody in it.
I had one idea that never changed in my mind – that you should use your wealth to help people.
Wealth brings responsibilities. People have to determine themselves whether they feel an obligation to use some of their wealth to improve life for their fellow human beings rather than create problems for future generations.
Closing Thoughts
Chuck Feeney does not own a home, he flies economy, has one pair of shoes and wears a $15 Casio watch on the basis that it keeps time just as well as a Rolex. Today his net worth is around $2 Million.
Chuck did make provisions for each of his children and his first wife. He didn't want to see them go without.
Chuck Feeney is a truly remarkable man - the world needs many more Chuck Feeney's.
My wish would be that Chuck's story will inspire many more people from all over the world to re-evaluate their personal situation, simplify their lives and share more of the blessings that they have with people in need.
How many homes, cars, vacations and toys do we need, and do they make us an happier?
I hope that you enjoyed this post and that it will inspire you to live a truly remarkable life!
Click this link to visit The Atlantic Philanthropies website