(IJCH) Meet Bill Gates' and Warren Buffet's Hero: Chuck Feeny - The Secret Billionaire and Uber Philanthropist
(IJCH) Meet Bill Gates' and Warren Buffet's Hero: Chuck Feeny - The Secret Billionaire and Uber Philanthropist
IJCH - Inside JaiChai's Head (Meaning: My Warped, Personal Opinions and Musings)
From the Author:
Salutations.
I am JaiChai.
And if I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you before, I'm delighted to make your acquaintance now.
I invite you to interact with everyone, learn, and have as much fun as possible!
For my returning online friends, "It's always great to see you again!"
Learning about Chuck Feeney
I was having a conversation with a friend of mine about the philanthropic activities of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.
We discussed each others' opinion of Gates and Buffet.
Then he said, "Did you know that Gates' and Buffet's financial and philanthropic hero is Chuck Feeney?"
"Who is that?" I said.
"He is the billionaire who decided to give his vast fortune away - the money from all of his life's work - to support great humanitarian causes WHILE LIVING, NOT POSTHUMOUSLY."
That's when I decided to learn about this man that I'd never heard of.
And I'm so glad I did because his story inspires me to do greater things in my life.
And suffice it to say that Chuck Feeney is now one of my heroes too.
Why?
He is not only a visionary entrepreneur, he is also a wonderfully intriguing and compassionate human being.
For example, as a young man at university, Chuck saw that most students were so busy that they sought out quick, cheap and convenient lunches.
So, he began selling sandwiches.
His keen ability to see opportunities and deeply understand people has resulted in huge business and philanthropic success.
Chuck's laser focus on the fundamental Why and What of any endeavor helped him stay on track and overcome the inevitable obstacles inherent with any forward thinking venture.
His level of genius is only matched by his humble, self-effacing demeanor. He abhorred lavish lifestyles and loved his anonymity.
In fact, most of the billions of dollars he has given away had the requirement that he remain absolutely anonymous.
I highly recommend everyone to learn about Chuck Feeney.
His philosophy about life, business and the global community guarantees to inspire.
Charles Francis "Chuck" Feeney (born April 23, 1931) is an Irish-American businessman and philanthropist and the founder of The Atlantic Philanthropies, one of the largest private foundations in the world.
He made his fortune as a co-founder of the Duty Free Shoppers Group, which pioneered the concept of duty-free shopping.
Feeney gave away his fortune in secret for many years, until a business dispute resulted in his identity being revealed in 1997.
Over the course of his life, Feeney has given away more than $8 billion.
See:
Feeney is known for his frugality, living in a rented apartment, not owning a car or a house, and flying economy-class.
Feeney has been called the "James Bond of philanthropy," for his secrecy and success.
In 1997, Time Magazine said that "Feeney's beneficence already ranks among the grandest of any living American."
See:
In 2010 he received the Cornell Icon of Industry Award.
In 2012, all the universities of Ireland, North and South, jointly conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Laws on Feeney. During the year, he also received Ireland's 'Presidential Distinguished Service Award' for Irish Abroad.
In 2012, he also was awarded the UCSF Medalfor outstanding personal contributions to the University of California, San Francisco's health science mission.
In 2014, Warren Buffett said of Feeney, "[he's] my hero and Bill Gates' hero. He should be everybody's hero."
By JaiChai
Thanks for stopping by.
Truly hope to see you again!
About the Author
Believing that school was too boring, he dropped out of High School early; only to earn an AA, BS and MBA in less than 4 years much later in life – while working full-time as a Navy/Marine Corps Medic.
In spite of a fear of heights and deep water, he performed high altitude, free-fall parachute jumps and hazardous diving ops in deep, open ocean water.
After 24 years of active duty, he retired in Asia.
Since then, he's been a full-time, single papa and actively pursuing his varied passions (Writing, Disruptive Technology, Computer Science and Cryptocurrency - plus more hobbies too boring or bizarre for most folk).
He lives on an island paradise with his teenage daughter, longtime girlfriend and three dogs.
WOW this was so interesting I had never heard of him
Glad you enjoyed it.
Namaste, JaiChai
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a very good post, hopefully what you describe is very useful for all of us, thank you for sharing.
Absolutely fascinating! I think it is awesome that someone found a way to be successful AND happy in his own right AND help others. What a wonderful way to live!