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Charles F. Feeney (born April 23, 1931 in Elizabeth, N.J.)^[1], is an Irish-American businessman and philanthropist. He made his fortune as a co-founder with Robert Warren Miller of the Duty Free Shoppers Group.

Personal

Feeney, an Irish-American with dual citizenship,^[2] was born in New Jersey during the Great Depression. He served as a U.S. Air Force radio operator during the Korean War, and began his career selling duty-free liquor to US Naval personnel at Mediterranean ports in the 1950s.^[3]

He attended the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.^[1]

Feeney has four daughters and one son. Two of the daughters are Diane V. Feeney and Leslie D. Feeney Baily. He married twice. His first wife, Danielle, from France, retained 100 million USD and a number of mansions and apartments after their 1990 separation and subsequent divorce.

Career

Feeney was a co-founder of the Duty Free Shoppers Group (DFS Group), which earned him his fortune.^[4] When he sold it to LVMH, he set aside $26 million to give to 2400 long-term staff.

Philanthropy

Philosophy

"I had one idea that never changed in my mind — that you should use your wealth to help people. I try to live a normal life, the way I grew up," Feeney said. "I set out to work hard, not to get rich."^[3]

Foundation

Feeney founded Atlantic Philanthropies in 1982, and in 1984, having made provision for each of his children and for his first wife, as well as very modest provision for himself, transferred the bulk of his wealth to the foundation.

Up to 2005, AP had given away $3.547 billion.^[5]

Education

Feeney has been a major donor to his alma mater Cornell University, which has received over $580 million in direct and AP gifts. He has also donated around $1 billion to education in Ireland, mostly to third-level institutions, most notably the University of Limerick^[1], and over 220 million to causes in Vietnam.

Sinn Féin

A 2003 article in Irish America magazine noted that Feeney's personal donations to Sinn Féin amounted to over a quarter of a million dollars, making him the organization's largest American donor at the time. The donations were personal ones, made outside of his foundations.

Books and Articles

Feeney first went public about his philanthropy in 1997, in an article published by The New York Times;^[2] at the time, he decided to end his anonymity when it became apparent that a dispute with Robert Miller, his former DFS partner, over the sale of DFS Group was likely to lead to a lawsuit that would reveal his donations anyway.^[2]

Feeney also cooperated in the publication of a biography about him by Conor O'Clery, The Billionaire Who Wasn't: How Chuck Feeney Made and Gave Away a Fortune Without Anyone Knowing (ISBN 1586483919).

Footnotes

External links

• Interview with Feeney from the Atlantic Philanthropies Web site