1When Forbes magazine released its list of the richest people in America in 1988,
2it ranked Chuck Feeney, 23rd, declaring him to be worth $1.3 billion,
3wealthier than Rupert Murdoch, David Rockefeller, and Donald Trump.
4What Forbes didn't know was that Chuck Feeney had quietly given away most of his money by then.
5This is the story of how he built a multi-billion-dollar empire and then quietly gave it all away.
6Chuck Feeney was born in New Jersey in 1931 during the Great Depression.
7Though his family wasn't wealthy, they were rich in kindness.
8His 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,
9pretending she was on her way to work, which left a lasting impression on Chuck.
10After high school, he volunteered for the Air Force and served with the American-occupied forces in Japan as a radio operator.
11His intelligence work was secretive,
12which defined his discreet approach to philanthropy.
13After serving four years, Chuck had his eye on a government scholarship for veterans,
14which funded higher education.
15Enrolling at Cornell University - a secular Ivy League school to study hotel management - was not what his Catholic parents had envisioned.
16He was known as the "sandwich man" on campus for selling bologna sandwiches to hungry classmates -
17two slices of bread, one slice of meat to keep costs low.
18After graduating in 1956,
19Chuck turned down offers from major hotel chains,
20he wasn't interested in climbing the corporate ladder.
21Instead, he used his remaining government scholarship
22to enroll in a Master's in political science at Grenoble University in France.
23Eight months later, he hitchhiked to the south of France,
24where he stumbled upon a business idea that would change his life.
25He noticed American sailors weren't taking advantage of duty-free alcohol deals.
26They were allowed to purchase five bottles of spirits and have them shipped to their home port.
27Five bottles in Europe cost just $10, including delivery,
28compared to over $30 in the U.S.
29Chuck sensed an opportunity that wasn't being tapped into.
30In 1960, he co-founded Tourists International with Cornell classmate Bob Miller,
31who had been working reception at the Ritz in Barcelona.
32Together, they sold and shipped duty-free liquor directly to U.S. Ports.
33Then they realized they could sell alcohol not just to sailors
34but to the throngs of American tourists starting to flock to Europe.
35Chuck also came across the catalog of Duty Free Shoppers,
36an American company which sold cashmere, perfume, and watches,
37and learned it was about to shut down, so he bought DFS.
38He even began selling European cars to American soldiers stationed in West Germany,
39who could buy them duty-free and have them shipped home.
40A 1700 dollar Volkswagen in the U.S. Would cost $1200 in Europe.
41They also won the bid to open duty free shops at Honolulu International Airport
42and Kai Tak International Airport in Hong Kong.
43These airport shops were considered minor side ventures at the time.
44By 1964, their business had 200 employees in 27 countries.
45Nothing could slow down Chuck's duty-free empire.
46Except, the government.
47In 1965, with the backing of President Lyndon Johnson,
48Congress reduced the duty-free liquor allowance from five bottles to one
49after U.S. States complained about losing tax revenue.
50Then, the military began selling duty-free American cars directly to soldiers overseas.
51To make matters worse, Chuck's business was operating at a deficit of $1.6 million,
52in part because of mismanaged finances.
53Many employees abandoned their duty free ship,
54but Chuck and Bob refused to give up.
55They went to eat a tuna fish sandwich at a New York deli,
56Bob said: "Well, Chuck, it's just you and I now."
57Looks like the shit's hit the fan....
58It's back to you and I to figure out how to do it.
59They cut spending, dropped the name Tourists International,
60and rebranded as Duty Free Shoppers.
61Their duty free airport shops became their saving grace.
62By the mid-1960s, international travel was booming,
63and Honolulu became a popular gateway for Japanese tourists,
64who traditionally brought back gifts for colleagues and loved ones.
65DFS tapped into this demand by offering duty-free luxury goods like watches,
66perfume, cigarettes, and liquor.
67A bottle of cognac in Tokyo that cost $50 due to Japan's high import taxes
68would only cost $10 in their duty-free shop.
69Chuck hired Japanese salespeople to better connect with tourists
70and even brushed up on his own Japanese with an instructor.
71DFS experienced explosive growth.
72When it secured the Honolulu airport concession in 1962,
73Chuck and Bob agreed to pay $15,600 annually.
74By 1967, they agreed to pay $330,000 a year.
75By 1970, $7 million a year.
76And in 1986, they made an extraordinary bid of $230 million a year.
77Japanese tourists also frequently flew to Hong Kong,
78so they opened up a duty-free shop at Kai Tak Airport,
79which was Hong Kong's main international airport at the time.
80And then they opened a larger store downtown
81and arranged for tour guides to bring groups through the shops offering them a commission.
82Chuck became extraordinarily wealthy and bought homes in the world's most exclusive locations
83to support his French wife, Danielle, and their five children.
84However, the contrast between his upbringing and his growing wealth left Chuck feeling uneasy.
85As author Conor O'Clery notes,
86"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,"
87"and how much he was coming to hate ostentation"
88"and to despise the life of wealthy socialites in Hong Kong."
89He ultimately rejected that lifestyle.
90"You could walk down the street, you'd never know this man was one of the richest men in the world."
91I spoke with Peter Foley, the photographer who took this iconic photo of Chuck in his New York office.
92He was basically by himself in his office,
93with no furniture,
94just a little desk and a chair.
95He didn't even have a jacket on.
96He was just the nicest guy,
97he was completely unassuming about anything.
98He had no requirements like most rich people do.
99You know, do this and do that, and shoot this and shoot that...
100Chuck wore a cheap Casio watch, flew economy, and drove a used Volvo.
101Despite shunning the lifestyle wealth brought,
102he remained driven to expand his empire.
103DFS secured a duty-free concession at the airport in Anchorage, Alaska,
104a critical refueling stop for international flights.
105As his close friend and colleague Bob Matousek explained to author Conor O'Clery:
106"Who would have thought of going to Alaska, a fueling stop, to open a duty free there?"
107"Chuck did."
108"He was prepared to take the risk."
109"He had an uncanny quality, a perception,"
110"an ability to see business opportunities that no one else could."
111The 747s exploded the business, opened the floodgates.
112But the more his business grew, the more Chuck hated being rich.
113He once reflected: "How much is rich?"
114"Beyond all expectations. Beyond all deserving, so to speak."
115"I just reached the conclusion with myself that money, buying boats and all the trimmings didn't appeal to me."
116A near-death experience solidified this perspective.
117While attempting to qualify for the Boston Marathon,
118he collapsed on the side of the road and was rushed to hospital,
119narrowly avoiding a fatal heart attack.
120As Conor O'Clery noted,
121"...this intimation of mortality may subconsciously have given him pause to reflect on his life"
122"and to figure out what he really should be doing with the vast wealth he was accumulating."
123Chuck was inspired by industrialist Andrew Carnegie,
124whose famous essay Wealth argued that the best use of one's wealth was to help others.
125And with that in mind, he founded what would become known as The Atlantic Philanthropies in 1982.
126He insisted that all donations remain anonymous,
127so he established his foundation in Bermuda to avoid U.S. Disclosure requirements.
128He secretly transferred his entire 38.75% stake in DFS into the foundation,
129valued at a minimum of $500 million.
130During this time, he and Danielle grew apart.
131She worried about their children being disinherited.
132She was also concerned about his close relationship with his German assistant, Helga,
133whom he married after he and Danielle divorced.
134Danielle received $100 million in the divorce settlement and all the couple's luxury homes to support her and their five children.
135Chuck didn't keep any family property,
136instead, he funneled his wealth into The Atlantic Philanthropies.
137His foundation donated anonymously via cashier's cheques.
138When Chuck gave a $7 million grant to support students contributing to campus work at Cornell
139or funded a teaching hotel there,
140the university's president was let in on the secret but sworn to silence.
141Chuck strategically invested in real estate and high-growth businesses to pour more money into his foundation.
142Ireland had a special place in the heart of the Irish American.
143He helped transform the struggling Limerick Institute into a university
144by funding the school of medicine, a state-of-the-art library, and a concert hall.
145Chuck was troubled by the conflict in Northern Ireland,
146where Protestant Unionists sought to remain part of the United Kingdom
147while Catholic Nationalists pushed for unification with the Republic of Ireland.
148He donated to the left-wing nationalist party Sinn Fein
149with the condition that they commit to a ceasefire by the Irish Republican Army.
150His peace-building initiatives created an environment that culminated in the Good Friday Agreement in 1998
151that ended decades of violence.
152He supported medical research in Australia,
153brought clean-water systems to communities in Vietnam,
154and funded life-changing cleft palate surgeries for children.
155And neither his three partners at DFS nor the world had any idea
156he was behind these extraordinary acts of generosity.
157If he happened to be an honored guest at events,
158he'd bring his own photographer,
159who would pretend to take pictures without any film in the camera.
160But the anonymity wouldn't last forever.
161Chuck foresaw the decline of duty-free shops
162and, in 1997, decided to sell his shares of DFS to the French conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy.
163However, his original business partner, Bob, objected to the sale and took him to court.
164Knowing the sale proceeds would expose his foundation,
165Chuck chose to reveal the truth about his philanthropy.
166His generosity helped inspire the Giving Pledge,
167established by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett in 2010
168to encourage billionaires to commit the majority of their wealth to charity.
169Chuck admired this initiative, expressing:
170"I cannot think of a more personally rewarding and appropriate use of wealth than to give while one is living,"
171"to personally devote oneself to meaningful efforts to improve the human condition."
172When Chuck shut down Atlantic Philanthropies in 2010,
173he had given away 8 billion,
174keeping just 2 million for himself and his wife.
175Chuck Feeney passed away on October 9, 2023,
176at the age of 92.
177None of the 1000 buildings across five continents he helped fund bear his name,
178leaving a legacy of quiet giving.