Product Description

Chuck Feeney was born in New Jersey to an Irish-American family struggling to make their way in the fiercest years of the Depression. In 1997 he called Judith Miller of the "New York Times" to correct a widely reported fact. He was not, as Forbes and others alleged, one of the 400 richest Americans. He was worth a relatively modest $2 million. He had been a billionaire however, but since 1984 he'd been quietly giving his money away, without fanfare or recognition. Now, in 1997, he was determined to wrap up his philanthropic efforts before he died. But that meant having to get rid of $3.5 billion, because the fund that he had endowed was one of the richest and most secretive of all the great philanthropic trusts: Chuck Feeney was the money and brains behind the Atlantic Foundation.This authorized but not approved biography of one of the world's richest and most secretive donors tells the story of how Chuck Feeney made his millions - buying and selling in post second world war Europe and Asia - and how he spent them, giving to causes around the world as various as hospitals in Vietnam and, controversially, Sinn Fein. More than a story of an extraordinarily gifted and fortunate entrepreneur, it's the tale of what happens to a man and his family when confronted with wealth beyond imagining, and how Feeney could come to make the decision to get rid of almost all of it. It isn't easy to give away $3.5 billion in good conscience. That much money requires a lot of due diligence; and money has the habit of attracting money. As fast as Chuck Feeney tried to deplete the foundation he found its funds were growing through its investments.At the time of writing the Atlantic Foundation remains one of the wealthiest and most secretive, and Chuck Feeney is as busy today as he was a decade ago trying to give the money away.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #293379 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Review
'RivetingA...a genuinely fascinating bookA... As one might expect from the best Irish reporter of modern times, O'Clery turns his prodigious research and mastery of sometimes intricate detail into a tight, pacy, crystal-clear narrative.'Irish TimesA"Feeney himself emerges as a complex character, a driven and hard-nosed businessman who asked himself profound questions about the purpose of wealth, and who seems to have devoted as much energy to giving money away as he did to making itA... For America's new generation of internet and private equity billionaires, this is an exemplary tale.A"FT

About the Author
Conor O'Clery is the former New York correspondent for the Irish Times. He now lives in County Dublin.

Customer Reviews

Excellent book
Conor O'Clery has written a masterly account of the legendary philantrophist, Chuck Feeney. Feeney, who made his fortune from the Duty Free industry, secretly began to give it all away in the mid-1980s and has been doing so ever since. What marks him out from other philanthrophists has been his desire to give while living, and to do so in absolute secrecy. Indeed, most of his grants were given on the basis that the source of the donation would never be revealed. A remarkable man and the book is a steal at the price. Well worth reading.