In an interview with Forbes Magazine, Bill Gates said, “Chuck Feeney is a remarkable role model.” Buffet has been quoted saying, “He is my hero. He is Bill Gates’s hero. He should be everybody’s hero.”
Growing up in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and serving in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, Feeney began accumulating his wealth selling tax-free alcohol to American sailors stationed in European countries.
Expanding his business around the world, Feeney was a billionaire by 1988. However he quickly (and quietly) started shifting money out of his personal holdings and into charities. His cover was blown in 1997 when his company was sold to LVMH.
While his cover might have been blown, Feeney gained a powerful advantage by catching the eye of other ultra-wealthy men and women like Buffett, Gates, and Oprah Winfrey. His generosity inspired them to give back to the world the same way he had been doing.
Feeney has retained just .025 percent of his net worth (about $2 million) to make sure he and his wife can still live comfortably in their golden years but comparatively, this is minuscule.
