Co-founder of Atlantic Philanthropies, The Atlantic Philanthropies
Bay Area Council 2015 Business Hall of Fame: Chuck Feeney
DFS Group Founder and The Atlantic Philanthropies Founder Chuck Feeney is inducted into the Bay Area Council's Bay Area Business Hall of Fame on Oct. 28, 2015.
About Chuck Feeney
Chuck Feeney, co-founder of The Atlantic Philanthropies, has continued to be recognized for his lifetime of philanthropy and his "giving while living" philosophy. In December 2021, Cornell University presented him with the first Charles F. Feeney '56 Lifetime Achievement Award for Entrepreneurship and Humanity. During the event, speakers noted that Feeney grew up in modest circumstances, attended Cornell on the GI Bill, and later founded the duty-free business DFS Group. They described his giving as having been largely anonymous for many years, a choice Feeney's associate attributed to his personal modesty and desire to keep his family life private. Feeney has stated that he sees "little reason to delay giving when so much good can be achieved through supporting worthwhile causes today." Feeney has frequently spoken about his motivation for philanthropy, emphasizing empathy for those in need. He has said, "I think life is a learning process and you read books, you read stories, you empathize with people," and noted that he "had always empathized with people who have it tough in life." In various remarks, Feeney has expressed that giving while alive allows one to see the impact and "modify your mistakes," adding that it provides "satisfaction that you're achieving something that is helpful to people." He has also stated that there is "an obligation, certainly for the haves to reach out and to look and see what they can do." The Atlantic Philanthropies was scheduled to complete its work in 2016, having given away billions of dollars globally.
Transcript (17 segments)
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R. K.0:10
Please welcome R. K. Thank you very much, Gary, you're very kind. The man I am to introduce tonight inspired so many of us who came from poor families to think we could do big things. The man I'm introducing tonight has done, had an incredible novel solution to the disparity between the rich and the poor. He gave all his money away, all of it. The man I'm introducing tonight is so modest that many of you may have actually not known of him before you come into the room tonight. The man I am introducing tonight makes me proud to have an Irish name. I would think I can say with honesty that we have never seen the likes of Chuck Feeney before, and I think we'll never see the likes of him again. He is a unique man. I have known Chuck fairly well for the last few years, and he has a tendency to look at you with these sparkling blue eyes and give you some good advice. So I'm going to share one of the pieces of advice that he gave to me, which have been important to me and may be important to all of you. The advice was: think big but talk little. So in the spirit then of Chuck's advice to me, I'm going to talk a little and let this film speak for itself. Thank you.
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Narrator2:03
Very few people have a chance in their lifetime to enjoy the kind of business success that puts them among the world's super rich. And except for those whose financial fortunes are dictated by forces other than themselves, very few if any consciously work to give it all away, and certainly not during their lifetime. Charles Feeney spent more than 20 years building a vast and highly lucrative global luxury retail empire that made him a billionaire. For the past 45 years, through the charitable organization he founded in 1980, The Atlantic Philanthropies, he's been working furiously to dispense with every penny of the financial fortune he made.
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Chuck Feeney2:42
In the world we live in today, there is such a need to reach out and help people. The world is full of a lot of people who have less than they need, and each time you can address their problem, you help them to move forward and to feel that's all right, life can change and I can change it.
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Narrator3:04
Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1931, Charles Francis Feeney was raised in a working-class Irish American family during the Depression. Feeney served in the US Army in Japan during the Korean War and later attended Cornell University. After graduating, he traveled to Europe where he and a college friend, Robert Miller, saw big opportunity in selling duty-free goods to military personnel. Through the early 1960s, Feeney and Miller launched a series of duty-free retail ventures. Over the next 20 years, his Duty Free Shoppers group grew into one of the world's largest retailers of perfumes, liquor, cigarettes, and other luxury goods. By the late 1970s, Charles Feeney was living the high life, but something was amiss for the man who came from modest blue-collar roots.
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Chuck Feeney3:48
Things got a little bit more serious with the amount of money and also an awareness when you travel and see how people suffer. Really, you know, it's not just an idea. I have always empathized with people who have a tough life, and the world is full of people who don't get enough to eat.
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Narrator4:12
In 1980, Feeney made a decision that would dramatically alter the course of his life and transform the lives of millions of people around the globe for the better. He founded The Atlantic Philanthropies and turned over almost his entire stake in DFS Group to it. Feeney also founded General Atlantic Partners, a private investment company that would manage his philanthropic dollars but would also grow to become the world's sixth largest private equity firm.
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Bill Gates4:38
Chuck wanted to build a direct investment entity, and so I asked him why. And he said, well, the first reason is easy. He says, I want to give other people the opportunity that I've had to build great businesses. The second reason is, he said, it'll increase my ability to give back.
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Narrator4:59
And so Charles Feeney quietly embarked on the next chapter of his life, guided by his giving while living philosophy. His philanthropy has spanned the globe, promoting education, health, science, peace, human rights, and reconciliation. Feeney's investments and leadership laid the groundwork for the peace process in Ireland, transformed the country's entire higher education system, and played a fundamental role in establishing Ireland's technology industry.
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Caroline Feeney5:25
I'm really proud of my dad. I think he's just really an extraordinary man. He's, you know, a very—I mean, he's just such—who does this, honestly? Who does this? Certainly has gotten everybody to think, why can't we all do more? He really has inspired a whole generation of philanthropists.
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Narrator5:47
There are few places where Feeney's generosity has had a greater impact than in the Bay Area. His vision transformed a barren, windswept former industrial area into one of the world's leading health, medical, and bioscience centers.
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Susan Desmond-Hellmann6:01
Well, Chuck has supported so many projects at UCSF. I think he's now the single largest donor to UCSF and the UC system. And his support, particularly of the new hospital at Mission Bay, is changing thousands of people's lives every day. So his impact is great here at UCSF, as it is around the world.
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Jeffrey Bluestone6:24
Well, I think that the power of Chuck Feeney has been that he has inspired so many people. Mission Bay has not only vaulted the University of California, San Francisco into the highest echelons of a biomedical research campus in the world, but it has transformed an entire segment of San Francisco. And it would not have happened—flat out would not have happened—without Chuck's vision and without his extraordinary generosity and philanthropy.
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Narrator6:53
And just as Charles Feeney's philanthropic journey nears its close in 2016, when The Atlantic Philanthropies is scheduled to complete its work of giving while living, a new generation of philanthropic titans inspired by Feeney's example is emerging.
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R. K.7:07
So I had the privilege of introducing Mark Benioff and Chuck Feeney. What really struck me as I saw both of these people at their core: here's Mark being so magnanimous and so respectful of the example that this man, Chuck Feeney, has set. Really, Mark talked about him as his role model. And here's Chuck Feeney looking at Mark Benioff as the next generation, the guy he's handing the torch to.
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Chuck Feeney7:39
It is clearly more than money. It's satisfaction that you're achieving something that is helpful to people.
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Host8:05
That's about as impressive a story as I've ever heard. Everybody agree? So that's so impressive that we're going to take Chuck's trophy to him. So here we go.
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Chuck Feeney9:12
My heart and my mind receive this award with the realization that it was many people who helped put the idea together and carried it out to the point that we have reached our levels and can now pass the torch on to others. We will so do, and you have my thanks, my respect, and my all-inclusive sincerity. Thank you very much.