The Billionaire Who Gave Away His Entire Fortune
Vocab level: C2
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When Forbes magazine released its list of the richest people in America in 1988,
it ranked Chuck Feeney, 23rd, declaring him to be worth $1.3 billion,
wealthier than Rupert Murdoch, David Rockefeller, and Donald Trump.
What Forbes didn't know was that Chuck Feeney had quietly given away most of his money by then.
This is the story of how he built a multi-billion-dollar empire and then quietly gave it all away.
Chuck Feeney was born in New Jersey in 1931 during the Great Depression.
Though his family wasn't wealthy, they were rich in kindness.
His mother was a nurse who would go out of her way to give a neighbor with Lou Gehrig's disease a ride to the bus stop,
pretending she was on her way to work, which left a lasting impression on Chuck.
After high school, he volunteered for the Air Force and served with the American-occupied forces in Japan as a radio operator.
His intelligence work was secretive,
which defined his discreet approach to philanthropy.
After serving four years, Chuck had his eye on a government scholarship for veterans,
which funded higher education.
Enrolling at Cornell University - a secular Ivy League school to study hotel management - was not what his Catholic parents had envisioned.
He was known as the "sandwich man" on campus for selling bologna sandwiches to hungry classmates -
two slices of bread, one slice of meat to keep costs low.
After graduating in 1956,
Chuck turned down offers from major hotel chains,
he wasn't interested in climbing the corporate ladder.
Instead, he used his remaining government scholarship
to enroll in a Master's in political science at Grenoble University in France.
Eight months later, he hitchhiked to the south of France,
where he stumbled upon a business idea that would change his life.
He noticed American sailors weren't taking advantage of duty-free alcohol deals.
They were allowed to purchase five bottles of spirits and have them shipped to their home port.
Five bottles in Europe cost just $10, including delivery,
compared to over $30 in the U.S.
Chuck sensed an opportunity that wasn't being tapped into.
In 1960, he co-founded Tourists International with Cornell classmate Bob Miller,
who had been working reception at the Ritz in Barcelona.
Together, they sold and shipped duty-free liquor directly to U.S. Ports.
Then they realized they could sell alcohol not just to sailors
but to the throngs of American tourists starting to flock to Europe.
Chuck also came across the catalog of Duty Free Shoppers,
an American company which sold cashmere, perfume, and watches,
and learned it was about to shut down, so he bought DFS.
He even began selling European cars to American soldiers stationed in West Germany,
who could buy them duty-free and have them shipped home.
A 1700 dollar Volkswagen in the U.S. Would cost $1200 in Europe.
They also won the bid to open duty free shops at Honolulu International Airport
and Kai Tak International Airport in Hong Kong.
These airport shops were considered minor side ventures at the time.
By 1964, their business had 200 employees in 27 countries.
Nothing could slow down Chuck's duty-free empire.
Except, the government.
In 1965, with the backing of President Lyndon Johnson,
Congress reduced the duty-free liquor allowance from five bottles to one
after U.S. States complained about losing tax revenue.
Then, the military began selling duty-free American cars directly to soldiers overseas.
To make matters worse, Chuck's business was operating at a deficit of $1.6 million,
in part because of mismanaged finances.
Many employees abandoned their duty free ship,
but Chuck and Bob refused to give up.
They went to eat a tuna fish sandwich at a New York deli,
Bob said: "Well, Chuck, it's just you and I now."
Looks like the shit's hit the fan.…
It's back to you and I to figure out how to do it.
They cut spending, dropped the name Tourists International,
and rebranded as Duty Free Shoppers.
Their duty free airport shops became their saving grace.
By the mid-1960s, international travel was booming,
and Honolulu became a popular gateway for Japanese tourists,
who traditionally brought back gifts for colleagues and loved ones.
DFS tapped into this demand by offering duty-free luxury goods like watches,
perfume, cigarettes, and liquor.
A bottle of cognac in Tokyo that cost $50 due to Japan's high import taxes
would only cost $10 in their duty-free shop.
Chuck hired Japanese salespeople to better connect with tourists
and even brushed up on his own Japanese with an instructor.
DFS experienced explosive growth.
When it secured the Honolulu airport concession in 1962,
Chuck and Bob agreed to pay $15,600 annually.
By 1967, they agreed to pay $330,000 a year.
By 1970, $7 million a year.
And in 1986, they made an extraordinary bid of $230 million a year.
Japanese tourists also frequently flew to Hong Kong,
so they opened up a duty-free shop at Kai Tak Airport,
which was Hong Kong's main international airport at the time.
And then they opened a larger store downtown
and arranged for tour guides to bring groups through the shops offering them a commission.
Chuck became extraordinarily wealthy and bought homes in the world's most exclusive locations
to support his French wife, Danielle, and their five children.
However, the contrast between his upbringing and his growing wealth left Chuck feeling uneasy.
As author Conor O'Clery notes,
"It only became clear to Danielle afterward how strongly her American husband felt that he did not belong to the world of black-tie dinners and leisure yachts,"
"and how much he was coming to hate ostentation"
"and to despise the life of wealthy socialites in Hong Kong."
He ultimately rejected that lifestyle.
"You could down the street, you'd never know this man was one of the richest men in the world."
I spoke with Peter Foley, the photographer who took this iconic photo of Chuck in his New York office.
He was basically by himself in his office,
with no furniture,
just a little desk and a chair.
He didn't even have a jacket on.
He was just the nicest guy,
he was completely unassuming about anything.
He had no requirements like most rich people do.
You know, do this and do that, and shoot this and do that...
Chuck wore a cheap Casio watch, flew economy, and drove a used Volvo.
Despite shunning the lifestyle wealth brought,
he remained driven to expand his empire.
DFS secured a duty-free concession at the airport in Anchorage, Alaska,
a critical refueling stop for international flights.
As his close friend and colleague Bob Matousek explained to author Conor O'Clery:
"Who would have thought of going to Alaska, a fueling stop, to open a duty free there?"
"Chuck did."
"He was prepared to take the risk."
"He had an uncanny quality, a perception,"
"an ability to see business opportunities that no one else could."
The 747s exploded the business, opened the floodgates.
But the more his business grew, the more Chuck hated being rich.
He once reflected: "How much is rich?"
"Beyond all expectations. Beyond all deserving, so to speak."
"I just reached the conclusion with myself that money, buying boats and all the trimmings didn't appeal to me."
A near-death experience solidified this perspective.
While attempting to qualify for the Boston Marathon,
he collapsed on the side of the road and was rushed to hospital,
narrowly avoiding a fatal heart attack.
As Conor O'Clery noted,
"...this intimation of mortality may subconsciously have given him pause to reflect on his life"
"and to figure out what he really should be doing with the vast wealth he was accumulating."
Chuck was inspired by industrialist Andrew Carnegie,
whose famous essay Wealth argued that the best use of one's wealth was to help others.
And with that in mind, he founded what would become known as The Atlantic Philanthropies in 1982.
He insisted that all donations remain anonymous,
so he established his foundation in Bermuda to avoid U.S. Disclosure requirements.
He secretly transferred his entire 38.75% stake in DFS into the foundation,
valued at a minimum of $500 million.
During this time, he and Danielle grew apart.
She worried about their children being disinherited.
She was also concerned about his close relationship with his German assistant, Helga,
whom he married after he and Danielle divorced.
Danielle received $100 million in the divorce settlement and all the couple's luxury homes to support her and their five children.
Chuck didn't keep any family property,
instead, he funneled his wealth into The Atlantic Philanthropies.
His foundation donated anonymously via cashier's cheques.
When Chuck gave a $7 million grant to support students contributing to campus work at Cornell
or funded a teaching hotel there,
the university's president was let in on the secret but sworn to silence.
Chuck strategically invested in real estate and high-growth businesses to pour more money into his foundation.
Ireland had a special place in the heart of the Irish American.
He helped transform the struggling Limerick Institute into a university
by funding the school of medicine, a state-of-the-art library, and a concert hall.
Chuck was troubled by the conflict in Northern Ireland,
where Protestant Unionists sought to remain part of the United Kingdom
while Catholic Nationalists pushed for unification with the Republic of Ireland.
He donated to the left-wing nationalist party Sinn Fein
with the condition that they commit to a ceasefire by the Irish Republican Army.
His peace-building initiatives created an environment that culminated in the Good Friday Agreement in 1998
that ended decades of violence.
He supported medical research in Australia,
brought clean-water systems to communities in Vietnam,
and funded life-changing cleft palate surgeries for children.
And neither his three partners at DFS nor the world had any idea
he was behind these extraordinary acts of generosity.
If he happened to be an honored guest at events,
he'd bring his own photographer,
who would pretend to take pictures without any film in the camera.
But the anonymity wouldn't last forever.
Chuck foresaw the decline of duty-free shops
and, in 1997, decided to sell his shares of DFS to the French conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy.
However, his original business partner, Bob, objected to the sale and took him to court.
Knowing the sale proceeds would expose his foundation,
Chuck chose to reveal the truth about his philanthropy.
His generosity helped inspire the Giving Pledge,
established by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett in 2010
to encourage billionaires to commit the majority of their wealth to charity.
Chuck admired this initiative, expressing:
"I cannot think of a more personally rewarding and appropriate use of wealth than to give while one is living,"
"to personally devote oneself to meaningful efforts to improve the human condition."
When Chuck shut down Atlantic Philanthropies in 2010,
he had given away 8 billion,
keeping just 2 million for himself and his wife.
Chuck Feeney passed away on October 9, 2023,
at the age of 92.
None of the 1000 buildings across five continents he helped fund bear his name,
leaving a legacy of quiet giving.
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