If you were a billionaire, what would you spend your money on? Sport cars, a luxury yacht, or maybe a large mansion somewhere? When you’re a billionaire you can effectively purchase nearly any and all forms of consumer goods, and you can be certain that you’ll live life in comfort. You can also try and make lives for others more comfortable, and that’s exactly what Chuck Feeney did with his fortune as he gave away around 99% of his $7.5 billion dollar fortune to help others.
Chuck Feeney is an 83-year-old Irish-American businessman who has become one of the most iconic philanthropists of modern times. Feeney amassed his fortune as the co-founder of the DFS Group, which is a luxury travel retailer that has a network of duty free stores located throughout the world that sell things like premium cigars and cognac. He gathered quite a deal of money from his business ventures, and instead of spending it on himself, he has donated almost all of his fortune to helping those less fortunate.
Feeney established The Atlantic Philanthropies group to create grants and give donations for under privileged people around the world. Specifically his organization aims to create grants that can help send under privileged kids from around the world to college, in addition to creating grants that support healthcare reform and social rights. The main nations that the Atlantic Philanthropies work with are the United States, Vietnam, Australia, Bermuda, Ireland, and South Africa.
So far $6.2 billion dollars have already been spent, and the remaining $1.3 billion are to be spent by 2016. Chuck Feeney could be the largest and most giving philanthropy of all time, as only a few others have given as much as he has. “People used to ask me how I got my jollies”, Feeney once said, “and I guess I’m happy when what I’m doing is helping people and unhappy when what I’m doing isn’t helping people”. He really wants to make a change and a positive impact on others, and he certainly has. Since the Atlantic Philanthropies was established in 1982, Feeney has given nearly all of his fortune and is now estimated to be worth $2 million dollars. For many billionaires, it would be extremely difficult for them to give away all their money, but for Chuck Feeney it was a pleasure. We certainly need more Chuck Feeney’s in the world.
Photo from moz.com
