Former billionaire Charles “Chuck” Feeney, co-founder of the Hong Kong-based DFS duty free shopping empire, had a net worth of about $2 million when he died at the age of 92 in San Francisco on Monday, according to Forbes magazine.
The Irish-American businessman and philanthropist gave up his billionaire life of luxury in the early 1980s, when he decided to give away his multibillion-dollar fortune through The Atlantic Philanthropies, the foundation he set up in 1982.
Mr Feeney made grants totalling more than $8 billion – most of them anonymously – to numerous causes on five continents, The Atlantic Philanthropies said on its website.
“Chuck Feeney was an exceptional entrepreneur, citizen of the world and friend to people in need,” said Peter Smitham, a former board chairman of the foundation.
“In an unprecedented act of generosity, he secretly gave away nearly all of his wealth in the early 1980s to advance opportunities and better outcomes for those who are unfairly disadvantaged or vulnerable to life’s circumstances.”
Mr Feeney, who was known as the “James Bond of philanthropy” because of his secret donations, was born during the Great Depression.
Along with co-founder Robert Miller, they launched the first DFS store at Hong Kong airport in 1960 to sell luxury goods to tourists.
The company has since grown to more than 400 outlets around the world, including its T Galleria stores, and reported a turnover of $3.1 billion in 2021, according to Statista.
In 1996, French luxury conglomerate Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton acquired a majority share in DFS Group after buying out three of its partners, including Mr Feeney. Mr Miller remains a shareholder in the business.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates once described Mr Feeney as the “ultimate example of Giving While Living”, the foundation said.
Mr Feeney’s Giving While Living pledge inspired Mr Gates, the world’s fifth-richest person with a net worth of $124 billion, and renowned centibillionaire investor Warren Buffett to set up The Giving Pledge in 2010, which encourages the super-rich to donate the majority of their fortunes to philanthropic causes.
“He was a private man who, following the creation of The Atlantic Foundation, chose to live frugally,” Atlantic said.
“He was well known for his signature $15 watch, plastic bags for a briefcase and his preference for flying economy. In the last three decades, he did not own a car or home, preferring to stay in modest rented apartments.”
By the time Mr Feeney dissolved The Atlantic Philanthropies in 2020 – after achieving his aim of giving away his fortune – he had made more than $8 billion in grants, mainly in the US, Ireland, Britain, Northern Ireland, Australia, South Africa, Vietnam, Bermuda and Cuba, the foundation said.
