The story of the tycoon who donated his $ 8 billion fortune and was left with nothing

Charles Feeney he never had a house of his own or even a car. His watch barely cost him a little over $ 10, and at 90, he doesn’t have any luxuries in his life. However, and although his austerity may suggest otherwise, this man is a billionaire: He came to amass a fortune of over 8,000 million dollars.

He was successful when, in 1960, he changed businesses: he decided that the stores he used to sell goods to the US military traveling in Europe would become duty-free stores. He thus created, with his partner Robert Miller, a business empire that all those who have ever flown will have helped to build. His company, Duty Free Shoppers (DFS), now employs more than 9,000 people worldwide.

However, beyond the successes in business, what really interested Charles Feeney was helping others and he started donating money to different associations and projects all over the planet. Feeney has traveled the world with his businesses, but took the opportunity to learn about the needs of different groups who, secretly and selflessly, he handed over large sums of money.

His biographer, Conor O’Clery, assures us that Feeney’s life changed after reading “Wealth”, the work of a famous American philanthropist named Andrew Carnegie, also known as “The Gospel of Wealth”. Some phrases like “to die rich is to die in disgrace” They changed Charles Feeney.

At 50, the business mogul decided to create a foundation to channel his donations. Thus in 1982 was born The Atlantic Philanthropies, an NGO aiming to distribute your fortune throughout the world thanks to donations to the most diverse causes.

However, for the first 15 years of its existence, these donations continued to be made in secret, so there were those who hooked the James Bond nickname from philanthropy. Now 89, Charles Feeney can look back and be happy with what he’s done with his life.

As published by the BBC, Her philanthropic organization will cease to exist at the end of this year because she achieved her goal: to give all her money to just causes during her lifetime. In total, about 8,000 million dollars, more than 7,000 million euros to change.

The cause that was most important to him was education and he received the highest percentage of donations. Cornell University, its alma mater, has received nearly a trillion dollars over the years for projects such as building a tech campus.

An additional $ 870 million went to social causes focused on human rights. He donated $ 62 million in grants to groups working for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States and $ 76 million for campaigns promoting the Obamacare project.

Health was another big cause that Feeney paid attention to. It has donated more than 700 million in aid to the sector, including a grant of $ 270 million to improve the public health system in Vietnam and a check for 176 million to the Institute of Global Brain Health in Vietnam. University of California at San Francisco.

Charles Feeney, Chuck to his friends, He now lives with his wife in a small two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco.. He doesn’t need more because he’s happy like that, like with his ten dollar watch. His outlook on life has influenced other great millionaires such as Warren Buffet and the Gates, who have joined his “donate while you live” initiative. A great man.

Sources: El Confidentielle / BBC