Media Coverage

Charles Chuck Finney achieved great success in the duty-free shop business.
Disbanding personal charity foundation and donating to various fields including education and human rights
I only set aside 2.4 billion won for my wife and I to live after retirement.

 

The Finneys are signing the dissolution and donation agreement of their charitable foundation, Atlantic Philanthropy. Provided by Atlantic Philanthropy. Resale and DB prohibited.

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Dae-ho = An American billionaire donated his entire life savings of $8 billion (KRW 9.4 trillion).

Forbes, an American economic magazine, reported on the 15th that Charles 'Chuck' Finney (89), who made a fortune in the airport duty-free shop business, donated all the remaining money from his charitable foundation, 'Atlantic Philanthropies', on the 14th (local time) and disbanded the foundation.

Specific uses of donations include $3.7 billion in education, including $1 billion at Cornell University, where Finney studied; $870 million in human rights and social change, including the abolition of the death penalty ($76 million); $700 million in health care; and $76 million in support of Obama Healthcare.

The health care sector included $270 million in Vietnam health care projects and $176 million in support for the University of California's Brain Health Research Institute.

He also decided to provide $350 million to Cornell University to support the establishment of an engineering campus on Roosevelt Island, an underdeveloped area in New York City.

Finney, who has pledged to donate all of his wealth to society while he is alive, has made his lifetime donations reach $8 billion, including his last donation on this day.

He said in 2012 that he and his wife had already set aside $2 million (2.4 billion won) to live after retirement and would donate the rest.

“I am broke, but I couldn’t be happier,” he said. “I am very satisfied and happy that I achieved my goal while I was still alive. I am grateful to my companions on this trip, and to those who were wondering if I would donate all my money while I am still alive, I would like to say, ‘Try it. It’s really good.’”

His daily beliefs are famous for having a great influence on world-renowned philanthropist Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft (MS), and Warren Buffett, who heads the investment firm Berkshire Hathaway.

Buffett said, “Chuck is a monumental figure who greatly inspired my philanthropy,” and added, “He is a symbol of all of us, and the achievements he made in his lifetime are so great that it will take 12 more years after I die.” 

Bill & Melinda Charitable Foundation. Resale and DB prohibited.

daeho@yna.co.kr