Good Guys

I came across a biography the other day titled “The Billionaire Who Wasn’t.” It’s about a guy named Chuck Feeney who became rich through a company he founded and subsequently gave away almost his entire fortune of $8 billion during his lifetime. Given that there are almost 1,000 billionaires in the U.S. today (according to Forbes), stories of wealthy entrepreneurs making huge donations to charitable entities are not uncommon. What’s unique about Feeney, though, is the way he gave his money away. He did it completely anonymously.

Feeney was born in New Jersey in 1931 and served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. He made his fortune through duty-free shopping, creating a company called Duty Free Shoppers (DFS) Group that ultimately became one of the world’s largest travel retailers. He invested his earnings in hotels, retail companies, and tech startups. By the age of 50 he had amassed beautiful homes throughout the U.S. and Europe, enjoying a lifestyle typical of the rich and famous.

However, according to his biography, he was beginning to have doubts about his right to have so much money. He ultimately decided to give away almost all his wealth while still alive, leaving only $2 million for himself to live on and what he called “unextravagant” provisions for his five adult children. And he decided to do it anonymously.

To keep his philanthropic identity secret, Feeney created a foundation in 1982 called Atlantic Philanthropies, and in 1984 transferred his entire ownership of DFS Group to the foundation. As his personal net wealth grew, he regularly transferred more assets to Atlantic. And he began making his philanthropic donations under the foundation’s auspices. He supported schools including Cornell, his alma mater, The University of Limerick, and Queens University in Northern Ireland. Other beneficiaries of his largesse included public health organizations in Vietnam, AIDS clinics in South Africa, and UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco. Yet, according to the New York Times, of the thousand or so buildings throughout five continents build with his money, none bears his name. The public only became aware that he was the one behind Atlantic’s charitable work after Atlantic’s share of DFS was sold to Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy in 1997, exposing Feeney’s involvement.

Chuck Feeney died in 2023 at the age of 92. Both Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, two philanthropists I highly admire, called Feeney a remarkable role model and everybody’s hero. These days, with the media constantly reporting on high-level political corruption and divisiveness, it’s reassuring to me that there are wealthy people who use their money to benefit mankind rather than for self-aggrandizement. And to do it in a meaningful yet humble manner. In my opinion Chuck Feeney epitomizes the highest of American values.

(Sources: Biography, NY Times, Wikipedia, Forbes)