Tycoon Made a Fortune Just to Give It Away

By Anne W. Howard

Charles Feeney, the founder of the Atlantic Philanthropies, grew up in a working-class family in New Jersey. He amassed a fortune as the founder of Duty-Free Shoppers, a chain of retail stores, and one day in 1984 he signed nearly all his money over to the foundation. But he kept his generosity a secret for nearly two decades, forbidding grantees from ever disclosing where their money came from.

"Among history's notable businessmen and philanthropists, Chuck Feeney stands out," writes Conor O'Clery, an Irish journalist. "Starting from nothing, he built a vast fortune, and then in a single act, at the height of his powers, he transferred it irrevocably to his charitable foundation."

The author describes Mr. Feeney as an extremely frugal man who found having billions of dollars distasteful, and resolved to give it all away. Mr. Feeney and his foundation donated multimillion-dollar gifts anonymously to Cornell and Stanford Universities, the University of California at San Francisco, and other American groups, as well as organizations in Africa, Asia, Cuba, Ireland, and elsewhere around the world. In 2002, as the Atlantic Philanthropies prepared to spend all its money by 2016 at the earliest, the fund dropped its condition of anonymity.

The biography recounts Mr. Feeney's background, his business ventures, and his philanthropy, and includes interviews with Mr. Feeney, his family, friends, business partners and rivals, and recipients of his generosity.

"If you want to give it away, think about giving it away while you are alive because you'll get a lot more satisfaction than if you wait until you're dead," Mr. Feeney is quoted as saying. "Besides, it's a lot more fun."

The Chronicle of Philanthropy