Achieving a 38-year Brewster's Millions-like goal, a one-time billionaire declared mission accomplished of going broke, giving away his entire $8 billion fortune.
Irish-American billionaire Chuck Feeney, 89 and in declining health, was the co-founder of retailer Duty Free Shoppers, but he has exhausted his fortune by making decades of secret donations under his foundation Atlantic Philanthropies.
It began in 1982 and ran out of money this week, per the report.
"We learned a lot. We would do some things differently, but I am very satisfied," Feeney told Forbes, expressing pride in "completing this on my watch." "My thanks to all who joined us on this journey. And to those wondering about giving while living: Try it, you'll like it."
Liberal activists Microsoft founder Bill Gates, former California Gov. Jerry Brown, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi thanked Feeney for going broke for charity.
Duty Free Shoppers Group was founded in 1960, pioneering duty-free airport shopping – ostensibly making him a modern-day Robin Hood, taking from those who can afford to travel and giving it to the needy.
In something perhaps incomprehensible, Feeney is reported to being frugal, not owning a car or a home and having just one pair of shoes. He lives in a small San Francisco apartment with his wife, per BI.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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