The Secret Billionaire
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Who is Chuck Feeney ?
You will not believe that Chuck Feeney is a billionaire. According to published sources, he carries plastic bag that serves as a briefcase, wears a $15 plastic watch, flies economy class and does not own a house or car. Chuck Feeney was born in New Jersey during the Depression to a blue-collar Irish-American family, he co-founded Duty Free Shoppers, the world's largest duty-free retail chain. In 1988 he was listed by Forbes Magazine as the 23rd richest American alive and worth $1.3 billion, richer than Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump.
Thus far, Chuck Feeney has given billions away to schools, hospitals, universities, medical research and human rights from the United States and Ireland to South Africa and Vietnam.
He is obsessed in keeping his identity a secret. He incorporated his charitable foundation in Bermuda and attached confidentiality agreements and cabal-like vows of secrecy to his foundation's grants. After the cashier's checks cleared, there were no black-tie parties, no self-effacing speeches.
There isn't a photo of him on the internet - the photos listed on Google Image search, isn't him.
The above is a rare group photo of him published in Time Magazine in 1997
His photo is not even featured on his charitable foundation's website The Atlantic Philanthropies
According to news reports, Chuck Feeney made money in his youth selling Christmas cards door-to-door, clearing snow from driveways and caddying at golf courses. He loved the challenge of making money but had little use for it.
"The Billionaire Who Wasn't: How Chuck Feeney Secretly Made and Gave Away a Fortune" is a new book written by Journalist Conor O'Clery about this remarkable man.
Read more about Chuck Feeney in MSNBC and Business Week
