Chuck Feeney Story - Billionaire Who Wished to Die Broke

We always dreamt of having as much wealth as possible to become a millionaire and more or less a billionaire. However, you might not have heard of a billionaire who wished he died broke. As weird as it sounds this is the reality of the story of a billionaire who wished to die broke.

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Wished to Die Broke

Charles Feeney, also known as Chuck, is aged 89 and is the name on the Forbes list as one of the richest men in the world. Nevertheless, it is his weird dream that makes him very distinctive from other famous billionaires out there.

Feeney and his partner, Robert Miller, is the founder of Duty-Free Shoppers, a retail shop in many international airports worldwide, which was established back in 1960. Despite himself raking in huge dollars each year, Feeney prefers to live his life modestly.

It is not that he is just rich but he is also well known for being a philanthropist and the start of the idea of "Giving While Living" or basically giving when you're still alive. He wished to donate all his wealth while he still lives instead of inheriting it to body charities out there after passing away.

Feeney told Forbes that he wants to give, handle, and see with his own eyes where his money is spent since he believes that wealth is meaningless after death. His ways might be different but he is definitely happy and thankful to those who join in with his charity work.

For the past 4 decades, Feeney has contributed more than $8 billion to charity bodies, universities, and even foundations across the globe through his very own called Atlantic Philanthropies.

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Back in 2012, when Feeney was interviewed together with Warren Buffet, Feeney mentioned how he only separates roughly $2 million for his retirement. To everybody's surprise, it was way much less compared to other billionaires just like him.

While others only wish to get publicity from giving to charity, Feeney prefers to do it secretly without others knowing. Forbes called Feeney the James Bond of Philanthropy.

Aside from having his own retail shops at the airport, Feeny also owns a private equity company known as General Atlantic. Despite being rich, Feeney is also known for being humble and he still lives in a regular apartment in San Francisco.

As of now, the generosity of the Great Feeney is no longer a secret as he is considered an idol and hero by other billionaires. Back in 2010, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet launched the "Giving Pledge" which is an aggressive campaign aimed at encouraging all the rich out there to donate half of their wealth before the end of time.

Warren Buffet also told Feeney that he is the main inspiration that the campaign was done. Warren Buffet was also joking around stating that it will require him 12 years to be on the same level as Feeney with all his contributions to the community.

Important Reason For Dramatic Effect

It seems that Feeney has donated most of his money towards fixing big matters which includes funding the Peace Programme in Northern Ireland, modernizing the healthcare system in Vietnam as well as making Roosevelt Island which was abandoned towards becoming a technological hub.

Feeny does not want to establish a body simply to collect funds from crowds or donating them to something that is considered insignificant. He is seeking a bigger purpose so that many people will be benefiting from his contributions.

In the year 2019, a Forbes journalist was working together with Feeney charity bodies, Atlantik Philanthropies to gather all the donations for several decades. Even though the donation consists of hundreds of data and statistics, Feeney simply summarize his mission in a few sentences;

I see little reason to delay giving when so much good can be achieved through supporting worthwhile causes. Besides, it's a lot more fun to give while you live than give while you're dead.

The End of Feeney's Mission

On 14th September 2020, 40 years of non-stop donations came from Feeney and he then signed a document to close the Atlantic Philanthropies. Many notable donators have wished their utmost gratitude to Feeney for all his dedication and contributions that he has given to society.

At its peak, Atlantic Philanthropies have as many as 300 workers at their office and 10 offices across the globe. Feeney has already planned on closing his charity body a long time ago. It's just that he wants a specific dateline so that he can fully utilize his money for his mission of helping those in need.

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Not just that but he also requires the time to make such documentation about the history, strategy, and achievements of his charity body as a reference for other institutions in the future. Feeney also did not plan on spending too much time in this industry as he wishes to spend the money as soon as possible.

Despite his non-existence as of now, the influence that Atlantic Philanthropies have brought is immense considering the global impact it has. However, some might wonder where did the $8 billion really did go?

Since his presence, Feeney has given more than $3.7 billion to higher education institutions, $870 million to human rights groups which including $62 million to end the death penalty in the U.S. and $76 million to support the Obamacare campaign.

Feeney has also influenced billionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to start their own charity body known as the Giving Pledge. One thing that they remember Feeney said was not to just give half of their wealth to charity but to give as much as possible during our lifetime.

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