
One time Chuck Feeney was listed as the 23rd richest American by Forbes in 1988, bypassing Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch, among many others. The problem was it was a complete miss by Forbes.
The reality was Feeney had transferred his wealth into his charitable foundation four years before and no longer had control over it. He had been giving away his money for years.
Feeney says he was inspired by one of the great philanthropists of all time: Andrew Carnegie, who had given a huge part of his fortune to fund libraries across America.
"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."
Feeney was one of those that loved the challenge of making money, but didn't have a lot of personal use for it once he got it. Even after building one of the largest retail businesses of the 20th century, he obsessed on finding ways to give back and help others in need.
Feeney, who co-founded the Atlantic Philanthropies, has given $4 billion over a 25-year period. Also similar to Carnegie, he wants to give away the rest of his fortune while he's alive.
He quietly went about giving his fortune away so people wouldn't discouraged from giving to great charities, and also because he simply didn't want to promote himself or use it as a marketing scheme.
A recently-released book "The Billionaire Who Wasn't: How Chuck Feeney Secretly Made and Gave Away a Fortune," tells the story of how Feeney attained his riches and how he secretly gave them away for years.
Sponsored link: The outsourcing every manager requires - Tampa Locksmith








How can I get Chuck Feeney's e-mail address?
Posted by: Anonymous | October 1, 2007 10:25 AM | Permalink to Comment