from NYTimes
And then there was Charles Feeney.
Feeney, who died yesterday at age 92, amassed an estimated $8 billion fortune as the co-founder of Duty Free Shops, but made it his life’s goal to give away virtually all his wealth before he died. (He succeeded in 2016.) Bill Gates once called Feeney “the ultimate example of giving while living,” while Warren Buffett said Feeney was “my hero and Bill Gates’s hero — he should be everybody’s hero.”
More from The Times’s Robert McFadden:
His name appeared on none of the 1,000 buildings on five continents that he gave $2.7 billion to fund. Grants to institutions and individuals were paid by cashier’s checks to conceal the source. Beneficiaries were told that the money came from a generous “client” who wished to remain anonymous. Those who learned his identity were told not to reveal his involvement.
His philanthropic organizations were incorporated in Bermuda to avoid United States disclosure requirements, although the arrangements disallowed United States tax deductions for his donations. …
In his last decades Mr. Feeney did not own a home or a car, wore a $10 wristwatch, preferred buses to taxis and, until he was 75, flew coach. He and his second wife lived in a two-bedroom rented apartment in San Francisco.
maybe a hero to Buffett and Gate, but clearly not someone to emulate.
And then there was Charles Feeney.
Feeney, who died yesterday at age 92, amassed an estimated $8 billion fortune as the co-founder of Duty Free Shops, but made it his life’s goal to give away virtually all his wealth before he died. (He succeeded in 2016.) Bill Gates once called Feeney “the ultimate example of giving while living,” while Warren Buffett said Feeney was “my hero and Bill Gates’s hero — he should be everybody’s hero.”
More from The Times’s Robert McFadden:
His name appeared on none of the 1,000 buildings on five continents that he gave $2.7 billion to fund. Grants to institutions and individuals were paid by cashier’s checks to conceal the source. Beneficiaries were told that the money came from a generous “client” who wished to remain anonymous. Those who learned his identity were told not to reveal his involvement.
His philanthropic organizations were incorporated in Bermuda to avoid United States disclosure requirements, although the arrangements disallowed United States tax deductions for his donations. …
In his last decades Mr. Feeney did not own a home or a car, wore a $10 wristwatch, preferred buses to taxis and, until he was 75, flew coach. He and his second wife lived in a two-bedroom rented apartment in San Francisco.
maybe a hero to Buffett and Gate, but clearly not someone to emulate.
