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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Bill Gates,Warren Buffett didn't go far enough in giving money away says philanthropist Chuck Feeney

Posted on Tuesday, October 26, 2010 at 01:36 PM
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Irish American billionaire philanthropist Chuck Feeney has stated that Warren Buffett and Bill Gates did no go far enough in their pledge to give half their wealth to charity.

"I support it, but it doesn't go far enough," Feeney told Global Post reporter Conor O’Clery in Dublin during a recent visit to Ireland. O'Clery also wrote the best-selling biography of Feeney.

Feeney has given close to $2 billion dollars to Irish universities and foundations. He also played a leading role in the Irish peace process, underwriting Sinn Fein’s Washington office until they were able to raise their own funds in America.

The founder of Duty Free Shops he has also given billions to universities and foundations worldwide.

All in all he will have given away $7 billion by 2016 when he expects all his money will have been allocated to charity. He instituted the 'Giving while Living' project which entails wealthy donors giving all their funding while alive

He takes issue with the Gates/Buffett pledge saying it does not go far enough “Giving While Living makes it clear, The Giving Pledge doesn’t,” he said.

“In May 2009 I attended the first gathering initiated by the Gateses and Buffet to elicit discussion among a small group of philanthropists about how to encourage greater giving among those with huge wealth,” he said , referring to a dinner in New York attended by a dozen billionaires.

“I was asked to participate in The Giving Pledge in conjunction with its public roll-out," Feeney told Global Post. "After thinking it over, I declined. This is primarily because, having taken this step 25 years ago, I don’t believe it is appropriate for me to join formally. Nevertheless I support the initiative, with which some 35 wealthy individuals and couples are now associated, and I remain open-minded as to how I might contribute to its further development and the ensuing process.”


Feeney's “Giving while Living “ philosophy inspired Bill Gates among others.

Gates told Charlie Rose on PBS that he was inspired by Feeney’s “phenomenal story.”

Feeney, however, is said to fear that the Giving pledges may run foul of surviving family members and believes little may be happening despite the pledges.

Feeney believes that giving his $7 billion fortune away was in“a sensible means for directing to good purpose, in a timely manner, a large and increasing wealth that well exceeded my, and my family’s, lifetime needs, and which I believe would have become problematic.”

Giving it all away Feeney said has been a “ rich source of joy and satisfaction for me and for my family as well,” he said. Feeney has four daughters and a son.

His message to other billionaires now is, “If you try it, you might like it!”


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WoundedKnee | Oct 30, 2010, 08:43 AM EDT
This guy Feeney pumps money into Ireland to distort the political & social process. He bankrolls Immigration pressure groups, who demand that Ireland's already lax immigration policies be made even laxer and the Open Door be completely taken off the frame. These outfits--who represent no one but themselves and the thousands of Africans and Chinese who want to settle Ireland-- enjoy unlimited funding from Feeney's deep pockets. in contrast, Irish people who disagree with Feeney's interference in their affairs and want to keep Ireland Irish have no billionaire sugar daddy to support them in the public forum. It is disgusting to see a foreign billionaire manipulate a small country the way this creep Feeney does.

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DennisQ | Oct 27, 2010, 11:03 PM EDT
How did Feeney get the exclusive distributorship? You're implying that he spotted an opportunity and siezed upon it before anyone else did. If that's the case, that needs to be spelled out. Exclusive distributorships rely on some kind of enforcement - that's what the word means.

Microsoft is widely regarded as a criminal enterprise. They were always in court defending themselves for one uncompetitive practice or another - until the Bush Justice Department adopted a non-enforcement policy. Microsoft is far more likely to have suppressed innovation than fostered it.

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mattpoet | Oct 27, 2010, 07:31 PM EDT
There someone goes again, then dam capitalists who ruined it all. I think the only "Non-Capitalists" is the Dalia Lama. we were all guilty. Have you never bought in Duty Free and felt good you got a bargin. It and alternative to Communism. Mattpoet

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semperfidelis | Oct 27, 2010, 06:04 PM EDT
He was smart, had a good idea, did his research, found a need and filled it. In return he made a ton of money, good for him. Then he used that money to help those less fortunate than himself. Sounds like a good guy to me and personification of the American Dream. I don't get people that " think" like you.Always scornful of the Church, people who succeed, anything or anyone, though flawed like us all,who still do an enormous amount of good. It must be hard being surly, cynical, and angry all the time.

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DennisQ | Oct 27, 2010, 02:43 AM EDT
Churches built with ill-gotten money have been called "fire escapes" because Catholic criminals want to stay out of Hell. There's an element of that when big-time cutthroat capitalists use their billions to clean up their image.

Bill Gates never met a competitor's idea that he was too proud to steal. For years, struggling entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley had to have a "Microsoft strategy" in place before they'd get venture capital. A "Microsoft strategy" lays out the measures the company will use to defend its intellectual property from theft. If the bankers weren't satisfied with the plan, they refused to lend money. No matter how often the Justice Department took Microsoft to court, the company kept right on plundering.

Chuck Feeney made his gazillions selling luxury products to the super-wealthy. The Duty Free Shop website explains only that Feeney and his partner got their start with an exclusive distributorship in Hawaii. This suggests that DFS' success isn't the workings of the free market but through some deal enforced by government intervention. No wonder Feeney's looking for a fire escape.

Rampaging capitalism is probably at the heart of today's economic crises. Perhaps Ireland's celebrated Celtic Tiger would be still alive if sensible regulation had preserved competition in Information Technology. We do know that for years Microsoft described its predation as embracing and extending new technology. What they really did was wait until an idea got off the ground and then they stole it.

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