Chuck Feeney facts for kids

Charles Francis Feeney (born April 23, 1931 – died October 9, 2023) was an American businessman who became very wealthy. He was a co-founder of the Duty Free Shoppers Group, a company that sold goods without taxes to travelers. But Chuck Feeney was special because he decided to give away almost all of his money. He founded The Atlantic Philanthropies, which became one of the biggest private charities in the world. For many years, he gave away his fortune secretly, without anyone knowing. By the end of his life, he had given away more than $8 billion to help others.

Early Life and School

Chuck Feeney was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on April 23, 1931. This was during the Great Depression, a time when many people struggled to find jobs and money. His parents were working-class Irish-Americans. His mother was a nurse, and his father worked in insurance.

He went to St. Mary of the Assumption High School and finished in 1949. He often said that his time at this school taught him to be generous. Later, he even donated $250,000 to the school, which was their biggest donation ever from one person.

After high school, Chuck served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. He worked as a radio operator. After the war, in the 1950s, he started his first business. He sold tax-free (duty-free) alcohol to U.S. Navy sailors at ports in the Mediterranean Sea.

Chuck then went to Cornell University School of Hotel Administration and graduated in 1956.

Building a Business

The idea of "duty-free shopping" was quite new when Chuck Feeney and his college friend, Robert Warren Miller, started their business. Duty-free means you can buy things like perfumes, electronics, or alcohol without paying the usual import taxes. This makes them cheaper for travelers.

In the 1950s, Chuck and Robert began selling duty-free alcohol to American soldiers in Asia. They soon started selling cars and tobacco too. In 1960, they officially created the Duty Free Shoppers Group (DFS Group).

DFS started in Hong Kong and quickly grew to Europe and other parts of the world. A big moment for them was in the early 1960s when they got permission to sell duty-free items in Hawaii. This allowed them to sell many products to Japanese tourists who loved to shop.

Over time, DFS became the largest travel retailer in the world. They opened stores not just at airports but also big shopping centers in cities. By the mid-1990s, DFS was making huge profits.

In 1996, Chuck Feeney and another partner sold their shares in DFS to a large French company called Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy. This sale was a big deal because it led to Chuck's secret being revealed.

Giving Away a Fortune

Chuck Feeney had a strong belief: "I had one idea that never changed in my mind—that you should use your wealth to help people."

In 1982, Chuck created The Atlantic Philanthropies. Then, in 1984, he secretly gave away all of his ownership in DFS, which was worth about $500 million, to this new foundation. Even his business partners didn't know that he no longer owned any part of the company himself.

For many years, The Atlantic Philanthropies gave away money in secret. They even asked the groups receiving donations not to tell anyone where the money came from. This was partly because Chuck didn't want attention, but also because it encouraged others to donate if they could get their name on a building or project.

The biggest amount of money went to his old university, Cornell University. They received almost $1 billion in total. This included a huge donation of $350 million to help build Cornell's New York City Tech Campus on Roosevelt Island. He also gave about a billion dollars to education in Ireland, especially to universities like the University of Limerick and Dublin City University. He also helped improve public health in Vietnam.

In 2011, Chuck Feeney joined The Giving Pledge. This is a group started by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett where wealthy people promise to give away most of their money during their lifetime or after they pass away. Chuck wrote to them, saying that giving while you are alive is the most rewarding way to use wealth. He believed that helping people now can make a bigger difference than waiting.

In late 2016, he gave his final $7 million to Cornell, the same place that received his first donations. Over his lifetime, he gave away more than $8 billion. At its busiest, Atlantic Philanthropies had over 300 employees and 10 offices around the world.

On September 14, 2020, The Atlantic Philanthropies officially closed down. This was because it had completed its goal of giving away all of its money by 2020.

Awards and Recognition

Chuck Feeney was often called the "James Bond of Philanthropy" by Forbes magazine. This was because he gave away so much money secretly and successfully. In 1997, Time magazine said his generosity was among the greatest of any living American.

Even though he avoided attention, he did cooperate with a book about his life in 2007, called The Billionaire Who Wasn't: How Chuck Feeney Made and Gave Away a Fortune Without Anyone Knowing. There was also a TV documentary about him called Secret Billionaire: The Chuck Feeney Story.

He received many awards for his giving:

• In 2010, he got the Cornell Icon of Industry Award from Cornell University.
• In 2012, all the universities in Ireland gave him an Honorary Doctorate of Laws.
• He also received Ireland's "Presidential Distinguished Service Award" for Irish people living abroad.
• In 2012, he was given the UCSF Medal for his contributions to health science at the University of California, San Francisco.
• In 2014, Warren Buffett said Chuck Feeney was his hero and Bill Gates' hero, and that he should be everyone's hero.
• In 2019, he was made an Honorary Queensland Great in Australia for his help in Queensland.

To honor him, Cornell University renamed a road on its campus "Feeney Way" in December 2020. In April 2023, another road at the Cornell Tech campus in New York City was also named "Feeney Way."

He also received honorary doctorates from Fordham University in 2022 and RMIT University in 2022.

Personal Life

Chuck Feeney was known for being very careful with his money, even after becoming a billionaire.

• Until he was 75, he always flew in economy class on airplanes.
• He carried his reading materials in a plastic bag.
• He didn't own a car or a house.
• He wore a simple $10 Casio F-91W watch.

As of 2016, he lived in a rented apartment in San Francisco and had only about $2 million left of his own money, having given away the rest.

Family

Chuck Feeney was married twice. His first wife was Danielle, and they had five children together: four daughters (Caroleen, Diane, Juliette, Leslie) and one son (Patrick). He later married his second wife, Helga, in 1995.

Passing Away

Chuck Feeney passed away in San Francisco on October 9, 2023, at the age of 92.