Chuck Feeney
Charles F. Feeney (b. ca. 1931[1] in Elizabeth, N.J.)[2] is a businessman and philanthropist who founded Atlantic Philanthropies and between 1982 and 2005 has given away $3.547 billion.[3] He is the founder of the Duty Free Shoppers Group (DFS Group) which earned him his fortune.[4]
Feeney, an Irish-American with dual citizenship[5], was born in New Jersey during the Great Depression. He served as a U.S. Air Force radio operator during the Korean War, and began his career selling duty-free liquor to American sailors at Mediterranean ports in the 1950s.[6] He later attended the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, and has subsequently become a large donor of the university. He has also donated $1 billion to schools in Ireland.[2]
"I had one idea that never changed in my mind — that you should use your wealth to help people. I try to live a normal life, the way I grew up," Feeney said. "I set out to work hard, not to get rich."[6]
Publicity
Feeney first went public about his philanthropy in 1997, in an article published by The New York Times;[5] at the time, he decided to end his anonymity when it became apparent that a dispute with Robert Miller, his former DFS partner, over the sale of DFS Group was likely to lead to a lawsuit that would reveal his donations anyway.[5][7] The article also noted that his personal donations to Sinn Féin—donations made outside of his foundations—were over a quarter million dollars, making him that organization's largest American donor at the time.[5]
Feeney also cooperated in the publication of a biography about him, The Billionaire Who Wasn't: How Chuck Feeney Made and Gave Away a Fortune Without Anyone Knowing (ISBN 1586483919).
Footnotes
- ^ Feeney is 76 years old as of September 30, 2007, according to an
NPR story published that day ("Reclusive Philanthropist Steps into Spotlight") - ^ a b Jim Dwyer, New York Times, Out of Sight, Till Now, and Giving Away Billions, September 26, 2007. Retrieved September 30, 2007.
- ^ Historical Grant Statistics from the Atlantic Philanthropies website
- ^ "Reclusive Philanthropist Steps into Spotlight" from the NPR website
- ^ a b c d He Gave Away $600 Million, and No One Knew, a January 23, 1997 article by Judith Miller from The New York Times
- ^ a b Book details billionaire's secret philanthropy, a September 19, 2007 Reuters story via MSNBC.com
- ^ One Life to Give from a 2003 article in Irish America magazine, via the Atlantic Philanthropies website
External links
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