Charles Feeney, Entrepreneur Who Gave Away His $8 Billion Fortune, Dead at 92
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Charles Feeney, who amassed his fortune after founding the famed airport retailer Duty Free Shoppers, died on Monday
Liz O. Baylen/Los Angeles Times via Getty
Chuck Feeney.Charles Feeney, an entrepreneur and philanthropist who gave away the $8 billion fortune he amassed after founding the famed airport retailer Duty Free Shoppers, has died. He was 92.
Feeney “died peacefully” at his home in San Francisco on Monday, according to his foundation, the Atlantic Philanthropies.
An advocate of “Giving While Living,” he made headlines in 2020 when he finished giving away his massive fortune. According to the foundation, while he was alive, the philanthropic organization “made grants totaling more than $8 billion, much of it anonymously, to causes on five continents.”
“Chuck was as passionate about making a positive difference in the lives of others as he was about being successful at business,” said Christopher G. Oechsli, President and CEO of Atlantic and long-time adviser to Mr. Feeney. “He cared more about being effective at what he did than about amassing wealth or collecting awards. In philanthropy, that meant being present and engaged in an unassuming manner with the people and their work who, with his support, could improve the lives of others in meaningful and lasting ways.”
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Born into an Irish American family, the New Jersey native took advantage of a GI scholarship, becoming the first in his family to attend college and graduate from Cornell University.
“After graduating, Feeney traveled extensively in Europe and eventually co-founded a duty-free business selling luxury goods to tourists,” the foundation wrote in a statement. “The business, Duty Free Shoppers (DFS), became the world’s largest luxury goods retailer.” He then expanded into new ventures “in retail, hotels and resorts, and information technology, through the General Atlantic Group, most of which became hugely successful.”
In 1982, Feeney and his family established the Atlantic Foundation, where he transferred all of his business assets two years later. When the foundation closed in 2020, he made more than $8 billion in grants, mainly in the United States, the Republic of Ireland, Britain, Northern Ireland, Australia, South Africa, Viet Nam, Bermuda and Cuba. (He kept around $2 million, which was set aside to cover retirement costs, per The Wall Street Journal.)
The organization advocated for health, equity and human dignity, and, according to The New York Times, Feeney gave to universities, medical institutions, human rights groups, peace initiatives and scientific endeavors. The charity was incorporated in Bermuda to avoid United States disclosure requirements, per the Times.
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“Feeney and Atlantic have been Cornell’s largest donors, providing almost $1 billion in grants over more than 30 years that transformed the campus and benefited thousands of students,” the organization noted.
In 2011, he became the 59th signatory of The Giving Pledge, which was started by Bill and Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffet. The Microsoft co-founder called him the “ultimate example of Giving While Living," per his foundation.
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“Chuck Feeney was an exceptional entrepreneur, citizen of the world and friend to people in need,” said Peter Smitham, former Board Chair of the Atlantic Philanthropies. “In an unprecedented act of generosity, he secretly gave away nearly all of his wealth in the early 1980s to advance opportunities and better outcomes for those who are unfairly disadvantaged or vulnerable to life’s circumstances.”
Born during the Great Depression to Irish American parents, he “chose to live frugally" and was “well known for his signature $15 watch, plastic bags for a briefcase and his preference for flying economy,” according to his foundation. In the last three decades, he stayed in modest rented apartments and didn’t own a car or home.
“Flying in the front of the plane doesn’t get you there any sooner,” he said, per the charity.
He is survived by his wife, Helga, five children, 16 grandchildren and four nieces and nephews.
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