With his giving-while-living philosophy, Check Feeney was able to target his philanthropy and witness its benefits
It makes sense that successful businessmen should apply their accumulated acumen—the very skills that meant they made it big in business—to making an impact in the world of philanthropy.
This way they can identify projects where investments will make a real difference and where they can be a valuable part of the process. This has the potential for substantially greater benefits than simply bequeathing funds, which may not be as thoughtfully, cleverly or effectively put to use.
One man who has provided a model example of the “giving while living” philosophy is Chuck Feeney. In December 2016, as Feeney turned 85, the organisation he founded in 1982, the Atlantic Philanthropies, made its final grant, taking total donations to US$8 billion, the sum amounting to Feeney’s fortune.
The beginnings of DFS
Feeney had prospered as a co-founder of DFS. The road to financial success wasn’t always a straightforward one; it rarely is. There were moments when what began as Tourists International and later became Duty Free Shoppers almost came tumbling down, but as Japanese tourism boomed internationally, and Feeney identified strategic locations in places such as Hawaii and Hong Kong for his first duty-free stores, it wasn’t long before the company was making money hand over fist.
However, business for Feeney had been about the competition and about striving to triumph. While money may have been a mark of his success, it was never his raison d’être, and having so much began to make him feel uncomfortable.
“It was by 1980 that I started thinking: where is all this leading and what am I going to do with it?” says Feeney. “I’m a guy who said that I could be happy with a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich.”
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It was around this time that Feeney was introduced to The Gospel of Wealth, an essay written by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie in 1889 but whose values still rang true. It set out that leaving excessive wealth to one’s family could be a burden, while leaving it to the government could see it frittered away.
Carnegie instead urged that it be given away personally to those who could help themselves by the person who could bring “superior wisdom, experience and ability to administer.” The essay culminates with the words, “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.” Carnegie only gave away part of his fortune, and his name was on many of his donations, but the essay nevertheless struck a chord with Feeney.
“Give it away today, you can see what it’s going to do,” says Feeney. “Giving while dead, you don’t feel anything.” With this in mind, Feeney proceeded to invest his fortune, then estimated to be between US$500 million and US$1 billion, in the foundation he established in 1982, later adding to it the US$1.6 billion he received when, in 1996, he sold his stake in DFS.