The billionaire who wasn't
by Conor O'Clery · first published 2007
88% recommend13% neutral
Why HN recommends it
An engaging account of Chuck Feeney, a low-profile billionaire who secretly built a fortune and gave most of it away. The story is fascinating and well told.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Chuck Feeney was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to a blue-collar Irish-American family during the Depression. After service in the Korean War, he made a fortune as founder of Duty Free Shoppers, the world's largest duty-free retail chain. By 1988, he was hailed by Forbes Magazine as the twenty-fourth richest American alive. But secretly Feeney had already transferred all his wealth to his foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies. Only in 1997 when he sold his duty free interests, was he "outed" as one of the greatest and most mysterious American philanthropists in modern times. After going "undergr
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> I once worked with an almost-billionaire family. If you ran into them in a restaurant, you would never know. One of my favorite books is The Billionaire Who Wasn't, about Chuck Feeney of DFS (Duty-Free Shoppers), and it keeps referencing his cheap Casio watch: “Since my earliest days I have been frugal, but I am a frugal person in that I hate waste, at any level,”…
on “A Look at the Ugly Side of Getting Rich” ↗…charitable projects, but I keep much of that private / anonymous. My general philosophy on that comes from two of my favorite books, "Banker To The Poor" by Muhammad Yunus (of Grameen Bank) and "The Billionaire Who Wasn't: How Chuck Feeney Secretly Made and Gave Away a Fortune" by Conor O'Clery.
on “Ask HN: How does your job benefit society?” ↗The Billionaire Who Wasn't - How Chuck Feeney Made and Gave Away a Fortune An entertaining read about a low profile billionaire who secretly gave away most of his fortune. When forbes put him on the richest list in 1988, he had…
on “Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?” ↗Conor O'Clery’ book ‘The Billionaire Who Wasn't: How Chuck Feeney Secretly Made and Gave Away a Fortune’ is an _excellent_ read. highly recommended!
on “Chuck Feeney Is Now Officially Broke” ↗Reminds me of Chuck Feeney - who made billions and then gave it all away/set up a foundation, including giving $26 million to long term employees. Great book on him called `The Billionaire Who Wasn't`
on “On 81st birthday, Oregon man gives company to employees (2010)” ↗The book on Feeney, "The Billionaire Who Wasn't", is great. Better than I expected going on. The man is fascinating.
on “Chuck Feeney: a billionaire who gave it all away” ↗"The Billionaire Who Wasn't" - impressive book about Chuck Feeney - very impressive on how he accomplished giving away his fortune.
on “Apple’s Tim Cook to take 50% pay hit after shareholder feedback” ↗Highly recommend the biography The Billionaire Who Wasn’t mentioned in the article. Mr Feeney inspired many. RIP
on “Charles (Chuck) Feeney, entrepreneur who gave $8B to charity, dies at 92” ↗The book about his life is quite good. "The billionaire who wasn't".
on “Chuck Feeney Is Now Officially Broke” ↗That reminds me of a quote from the book "The Billionaire Who Wasn't", about Chuck Feeney, co-founder of DFS, who secretly donated $8 Billion to various charitable causes until he was outed: “Since my earliest days I have been frugal, but I am a frugal person in that…
on “The attack of the SuperFakes” ↗And a book -- The Billionaire Who Wasn't
on “Chuck Feeney: The Billionaire Who Is Trying To Go Broke” ↗