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Sympthsical

(8,866 posts)
Tue Sep 15, 2020, 01:21 PM Sep 2020

The Billionaire Who Wanted To Die Broke...Is Now Officially Broke

If only all billionaires thought and behaved this way. Thought we could use a rare uplifting story from the billionaire class. Good man.

Charles “Chuck” Feeney, 89, who cofounded airport retailer Duty Free Shoppers with Robert Miller in 1960 amassed billions while living a life of monk-like frugality. As a philanthropist, he pioneered the idea of Giving While Living—spending most of your fortune on big, hands-on charity bets instead of funding a foundation upon death. Since you can't take it with you—why not give it all away, have control of where it goes, and see the results with your own eyes?

"We learned a lot. We would do some things differently, but I am very satisfied. I feel very good about completing this on my watch," Feeney tells Forbes. "My thanks to all who joined us on this journey. And to those wondering about Giving While Living: try it, you'll like it."

Over the last four decades, Feeney has donated more than $8 billion to charities, universities, and foundations worldwide through his foundation, the Atlantic Philanthropies. When I first met him in 2012, he estimated he had set aside about $2 million for his and his wife's retirement. In other words, he's given away 375,000% more money than his current net worth. And he gave it away anonymously. While many wealthy philanthropists enlist an army of publicists to trumpet their donations, Feeney went to great lengths to keep his gifts secret. Because of his clandestine, globe-trotting philanthropy campaign, Forbes called him the  James Bond of Philanthropy.


https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2020/09/15/exclusive-the-billionaire-who-wanted-to-die-brokeis-now-officially-broke/#7351e3c3a2aa
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The Billionaire Who Wanted To Die Broke...Is Now Officially Broke (Original Post) Sympthsical Sep 2020 OP
While $2 million in retirement isn't exactly "broke", I truly admire giving away 3750x that. moriah Sep 2020 #1
Medical expenses and nursing home care can be extremely expensive wryter2000 Sep 2020 #3
All Relative, Right? ProfessorGAC Sep 2020 #6
Agreed on all counts wryter2000 Sep 2020 #8
I agree, as opposed to some DFW Sep 2020 #14
Won't anyone speak for the billionaires! Hassin Bin Sober Sep 2020 #20
What, all 540 of them? DFW Sep 2020 #23
You dont have to look far; Post #15. Posted right after yours! oldsoftie Sep 2020 #26
Yes, I'm still in Germany DFW Sep 2020 #28
You should make this an OP. SO many folks here just dont get reality & need to hear it. oldsoftie Sep 2020 #30
Wow. Breaking out the "taxation is NAZIism" and invoking crimes against Jewish people. Hassin Bin Sober Sep 2020 #31
No, Enteignung and full confiscation were Nazi tactics. DFW Sep 2020 #32
He did what I would do. Set aside an amount of money to get one through Blue_true Sep 2020 #22
What a loser! What did he get out of it? Miigwech Sep 2020 #2
Todays winner!! oldsoftie Sep 2020 #27
ThanksChuck. And Mrs Feeney. LakeArenal Sep 2020 #4
There's a great YouTube video of him bucolic_frolic Sep 2020 #5
What a perfect goal to strive for. yonder Sep 2020 #7
So would this guy be a "loser" or a "sucker?" dchill Sep 2020 #9
Depends on which Trump answered you... Moostache Sep 2020 #12
Actually, I have the same goal. Mr.Bill Sep 2020 #10
Kinda restores one's faith, doesn't it! calimary Sep 2020 #11
My faith is indeed restored in humanity. But we hear stories of giving on DU all of the time, and SWBTATTReg Sep 2020 #13
Well, it's a start anyway. At least there are some people who aren't greedy bastards. groundloop Sep 2020 #16
It would be better if he'd been taxed on more of it, though. LisaM Sep 2020 #15
I'm sure he paid plenty in taxes - his giving spanned around 4 decades..... groundloop Sep 2020 #17
"some charities may be things we dont want our money to go to". Jeeze. oldsoftie Sep 2020 #25
I'm broker than him and I didn't have to work at it. TeamPooka Sep 2020 #18
This is, IMHO, our true "purpose" in life Pluvious Sep 2020 #19
K&R, uponit7771 Sep 2020 #21
My first serious job Roy Rolling Sep 2020 #24
Thank you, Mr. & Mrs. Feeney! NCjack Sep 2020 #29

moriah

(8,311 posts)
1. While $2 million in retirement isn't exactly "broke", I truly admire giving away 3750x that.
Tue Sep 15, 2020, 01:30 PM
Sep 2020

I mean, I wouldn't expect someone who had worked that hard to not want to sock some away to live decently on -- and for medical expenses, as out of pocket costs can be very high at the end of one's life.

But for a person who had accumulated that much wealth, he is a rare individual and more should seek to be like him.

wryter2000

(46,008 posts)
3. Medical expenses and nursing home care can be extremely expensive
Tue Sep 15, 2020, 01:41 PM
Sep 2020

I'm sure he has insurance, but $2 million isn't much for someone who had so much to begin with. I'd call that quite modest.

ProfessorGAC

(64,184 posts)
6. All Relative, Right?
Tue Sep 15, 2020, 02:29 PM
Sep 2020

$2 million, plus pensions is about what my wife & I have. So, we're more than ok.
But, we couldn't have given $2 million to charity, let alone nearly $8 billion. Yes, with a couple million they're going to be comfortable, and then some. We are.
But, he could have lived like an emperor, but didn't.
This guy did something both admirable & incredible!
Very cool!

DFW

(53,934 posts)
14. I agree, as opposed to some
Tue Sep 15, 2020, 03:35 PM
Sep 2020

Some say that billionaires should be taxed out of existence. Those same people often seem to be of the opinion that they know better how that money should be spent than the person that earned it. Here’s a man who showed the world, as well as those few who could be called his peers, how it could be done best.

There can’t be hordes of people like him, because there aren’t hordes of billionaires. But even in that small elite, Feeney stands out.

DFW

(53,934 posts)
23. What, all 540 of them?
Wed Sep 16, 2020, 03:10 AM
Sep 2020

That's the approximate number of billionaires in the USA.

There are a few other people in the USA at least as worthy of attention, last time I was there.

oldsoftie

(12,376 posts)
26. You dont have to look far; Post #15. Posted right after yours!
Wed Sep 16, 2020, 07:20 AM
Sep 2020

People just dont understand that you simply cannot pay for everything on the backs of only the very wealthy. There simply arent enough of them.
You know this, as you live ( I assume you still do) in Europe. Everyone must pay.

DFW

(53,934 posts)
28. Yes, I'm still in Germany
Wed Sep 16, 2020, 09:18 AM
Sep 2020

Well, today, anyway. My work usually takes me to one of the neighboring countries every day, except for Luxembourg, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Spain, too, though I haven't been back down there since June.

Everyone does indeed pay. Here, the max (on paper 42%, but with add-ons it's in reality around 50%) tax kicks in at less than $100,000 of gross income, and there is a 19% value-added-tax on most everything to boot. When people tell you everything is free in Germany, the answer is that NOTHING is free. It is just paid for differently here. There are billionaires here, too, of course, an estimated 114 of the at last count (Germany has a little less than ¼ of the population of the USA). I saw an updated figure of 705 for the USA. Since I will never be joining their ranks in this lifetime, it's not a number I check on daily, if you know what I mean.

It would be easy to call for an NSDAP-style "Enteignung" of all of America's wealthy people (stopping with just the Jews is SO last century), but when you consider that even if you go full tilt on Bill Gates and take every cent he has, his estimated net worth of $115.6 billion will net every man, woman and child in the USA, say 340 million people, exactly $340 per person, since 34 is the square root of 1156. One off payment. Not even a dollar a day for a year. If we could wipe out need and misery THAT cheaply, I'll bet even Bill Gates would say, sure, here, take it all.

oldsoftie

(12,376 posts)
30. You should make this an OP. SO many folks here just dont get reality & need to hear it.
Wed Sep 16, 2020, 10:41 AM
Sep 2020

And a lot of it really is just "Get the super rich".

Every time I mention the way Europe FUNDS their programs i get blasted. Yet they want the same programs

Hassin Bin Sober

(26,243 posts)
31. Wow. Breaking out the "taxation is NAZIism" and invoking crimes against Jewish people.
Wed Sep 16, 2020, 02:05 PM
Sep 2020

I thought I’ve seen it all here. I usually only see this kind of shit when I stumble on a Prager University ad on YouTube.

DFW

(53,934 posts)
32. No, Enteignung and full confiscation were Nazi tactics.
Wed Sep 16, 2020, 02:50 PM
Sep 2020

Also practiced by good old socialists like Nicolae Caeuşescu. I actually was invited by their government to see part of his stash (impressive! talk about a severe case of "you can't take it with you" ).

The far right doesn't have exclusive rights on the practice. Of course, saying that I am calling all taxation Enteignung is Trump-style polemics. I guess if he can get away with, why not someone on DU, right? You must watch Fox Noise more than I do, as it isn't available here anyway. Whatever floats your boat. I know the difference, and have elderly friends here, and some who fled in time who had it happen to them personally. Their stories help build up immunity to hyperbole.

Blue_true

(31,261 posts)
22. He did what I would do. Set aside an amount of money to get one through
Wed Sep 16, 2020, 12:21 AM
Sep 2020

the end of life, give what is left over after burial and estate settling to charity.

 

Miigwech

(3,741 posts)
2. What a loser! What did he get out of it?
Tue Sep 15, 2020, 01:33 PM
Sep 2020

He has earned his wings and has justly earned the love of his fellow man.

bucolic_frolic

(42,482 posts)
5. There's a great YouTube video of him
Tue Sep 15, 2020, 02:03 PM
Sep 2020

I'm pretty sure I posted it on DU about 3-4 years ago. He was from Ireland as I recall, and his fortunes were made largely in duty-free shops at airports worldwide - liquor sales iow.

Moostache

(9,895 posts)
12. Depends on which Trump answered you...
Tue Sep 15, 2020, 03:11 PM
Sep 2020

Donald? "loser"
Melania? "sucker"

Beavis and Butthead? huh-huh-huh...you said 'suck'

Ice Princess? "daddy said that makes you a loser"
Robot Boi? "its really simple, I read an article on it after I solved Middle East Peace with cash bribes..."

SWBTATTReg

(21,811 posts)
13. My faith is indeed restored in humanity. But we hear stories of giving on DU all of the time, and
Tue Sep 15, 2020, 03:20 PM
Sep 2020

how humanity is good to each other all of the time. It's just too bad that there are too many stories of selfishness and hatred in this world too. Take care!

groundloop

(11,482 posts)
16. Well, it's a start anyway. At least there are some people who aren't greedy bastards.
Tue Sep 15, 2020, 03:51 PM
Sep 2020

I need to see more stories like this, it's just too depressing to be constantly wrapped up in tRump news.

LisaM

(27,748 posts)
15. It would be better if he'd been taxed on more of it, though.
Tue Sep 15, 2020, 03:38 PM
Sep 2020

We'd all be better off if these people were taxed more, and letting government programs (that have the capacity to offer large-scale relief if they are funded) do their jobs.

I'm sure he means to be generous, but when rich people pick and choose their charities, it doesn't give a reliable funding stream to government agencies, and some of the charities could be things most of us would never want our money to go to.

This has a noblesse oblige feel to me. Just pay more in taxes, guy.

groundloop

(11,482 posts)
17. I'm sure he paid plenty in taxes - his giving spanned around 4 decades.....
Tue Sep 15, 2020, 03:53 PM
Sep 2020

so there were many many years of him paying taxes on his wealth.

oldsoftie

(12,376 posts)
25. "some charities may be things we dont want our money to go to". Jeeze.
Wed Sep 16, 2020, 07:17 AM
Sep 2020

"OUR money". Well, it was HIS money, not yours or mine.
And ALL of our tax money goes only to things we want it to, right?

Chances are that his dollars were spent far more efficiently than government would have.
Here we have a man who gives away 99% of his money & yet its STILL not good enough

Pluvious

(4,250 posts)
19. This is, IMHO, our true "purpose" in life
Tue Sep 15, 2020, 10:30 PM
Sep 2020

Help the Human race survive, thrive, and advance.

I fantasize about the future, where the race has conquered aging, outgrown its dark traits, and they teach about us early people who made it all possible. And marvel over how we could live with the knowledge of our inexorable mortality.

Roy Rolling

(6,831 posts)
24. My first serious job
Wed Sep 16, 2020, 06:38 AM
Sep 2020

My first job was at the Duty Free store in the New Orleans airport. I had no idea who owned it, but being able to roam anywhere around an airport was very cool.

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