“The Hamburger Man” and the Journey of Saving Every Dollar to Build a Business
“If you are born empty-handed, you will leave empty-handed” - that is the view that American billionaire Chuck Feeney kept telling himself during his lifetime as well as to explain his decision to give away all of his huge assets. In fact, as he said, he is a self-made billionaire, who got rich from nothing. Born into a working-class family in New Jersey, USA, in 1931, his mother was a nurse, his father was an insurance adjuster, and from a young age, Chuck Feeney had to work hard to find ways to earn money to support himself, from shoveling snow to selling Christmas cards door to door.
Billionaire Feeney and his wife.
| According to documents from The Atlantic Philanthropies, billionaire Feeney visited Vietnam in the late 1990s. His charitable projects in Vietnam were carried out from 1997 to 2015. There were a total of 297 projects with a total amount of 381.6 million USD for 97 local facilities, mainly for efforts to improve healthcare, modernize public health structures and higher education. |
Later, when he grew up, at the age of 17, Chuck Feeney decided to join the army, then attended Cornell University with his veteran's pension. It was also during his student years that the nickname "hamburger guy" came to Chuck Feeney when the student continued to make money by selling bologna sandwiches (grilled sandwiches served with sliced ham). Perhaps throughout his life, even after becoming a billionaire, Chuck Feeney never forgot his childhood days, a student diligently saving every dollar from hard labor.
The turning point in Chuck Feeney's life began in 1958 when a college friend invited him to found the company that would later become Duty Free Shoppers (DFS). The birth of so-called "duty-free shopping" - providing high-end deals for tourists, exempting import duties, retailing alcohol, tobacco and luxury goods at airports - helped Chuck Feeney and Robert Warren Miller - the two co-founders of DFS - make a lot of money. DFS started operating in Hong Kong, then expanded to Europe and other continents. DFS's annual revenue of billions of dollars gradually brought Chuck Feeney to the position of billionaire.
Billionaire with no house, no car
It is not an exaggeration to say that Chuck Feeney is a “mutant”. He is a “mutant” both in his way of life and in his way of working. He once shared: “ I set a goal to work hard, not to get rich ”. Chuck Feeney is also particularly secretive, never boasting about his success or wealth, and rarely giving interviews.
Even more strange is that this billionaire, who was ranked 23rd among the richest people in the world, lived an extremely simple life during his lifetime. Few people can believe that the rich owner of DFS once had no house or even a car, only bought ready-made clothes, wore a watch worth less than $15, went to work by subway, only flew economy class even when his family members and colleagues flew business class on the same plane.... Chuck Feeney often said that he valued money but hated wasting it.
“ Chuck Feeney always picked the second cheapest wine from the wine list. When we went out together he always dressed like an American tourist,” said his biographer, former Irish Times reporter Conor O’Clery. Christopher Oechsli, president and CEO of the Atlantic Philanthropies charity, said: “ The stories about Chuck Feeney’s frugality are true. He had a $10 Casio watch and carried his papers in plastic bags. That was what made him feel comfortable and that was who Chuck was .” Until his death, Chuck Feeney was said to have lived in a small rented apartment in San Francisco with his wife.
Billionaire Feeney and his wife during a visit to Vietnam. Photo: Archive
“With wealth comes responsibility”
Chuck Feeney's sharing with the Guardian is also what this billionaire has kept in mind throughout his life journey. Because of these two words of responsibility, over the years, Chuck Feeney has quietly and silently spent a lot of time and money on charity work. In 1982, Chuck Feeney founded The Atlantic Philanthropies Charitable Foundation and in 1984 transferred all 38.75% of his shares in DFS, worth about 500 million USD, to this foundation.
“ When you die, you can't take all your assets with you, so why give it all away so you can follow the charity money, manage it and witness the charity results while you're still alive?” - Chuck Feeney shared the reason why he made the decision that many people considered crazy when he decided to give all of his $8 billion fortune to charity. " Use your wealth to help people. Use your wealth to establish organizations to help people" - Chuck Feeney always calls for.
What is more noteworthy is that Chuck Feeney's entire philanthropic journey is completely secret, with absolutely no media information. " The desire for anonymity is a combination of Chuck's modesty and his desire to work quietly and wisely. He wants to meet people, talk, learn and act without attracting much attention or recognition" - Mr. Christopher G. Oechsli - former president and CEO of the Atlantic Foundation shared.
From the 8 billion USD throughout the Atlantic Foundation's projects, the money that Chuck Feeney has given has contributed to many historic changes such as facilitating the peace process in Northern Ireland, promoting the formation of a knowledge economy in Ireland and Australia, promoting the abolition of the death penalty for minors and reducing the number of children without health insurance in the US, ensuring life-saving treatment for millions of people with HIV/AIDS in South Africa, helping Vietnam develop education and health care projects.
“ Feeney’s contributions are among the greatest of any living American ,” Time wrote. Billionaire Warren Buffett spoke of Feeney with great respect: “ He is my hero and Bill Gates’s hero. He is everyone’s hero .” From “ Chuck Feeney’s inspiration,” Bill Gates and Warren Buffett founded the “Giving Pledge” – a campaign calling on the richest class in America to give away at least 50% of their assets before they die.
Ha Anh
Source
Comment (0)