Table of Contents
Praise forThe Billionaire Who Wasnt
Chuck Feeneys success in business, coupled with his commitment to philanthropy, stands as living proof that it is possible to do well and do good at the same time.Bill Clinton
You may never read a book as uplifting as Conor OClerys The Billionaire Who Wasnt: How Chuck Feeney Secretly Made and Gave Away a Fortune. In vivid, unvarnished prose, The Billionaire Who Wasnt recounts Feeneys meteoric rise from blue-collar beginnings in Elizabeth, N.J., to a perch as one of Americas titans of commerce, head of Duty Free Shoppers, the largest liquor retailer in the world.Washington Posts Express
A rollicking story of how, by stealth, an Irish American obsessed by secrecy built a business empire and revolutionised philanthropy.
The Economist, best books of 2007
An engrossing look at an unusual, influential philanthropist.... A superbly written, detailed look at Chuck Feeney, who gave away billions. Reads like fiction.BusinessWeek, top ten business books, 2007
The riveting story of a billionaire who gave it all away disturbs deeply rooted assumptions about wealth and power.... What makes him so fascinating, and gives such richness to OClerys brilliantly engrossing account, is that Feeney both embodies and rebukes the American Dream. OClery turns his prodigious research and mastery of sometimes intricate detail into a tight, pacey, crystal-clear narrative.... An epic tale.
Irish Times
An interesting and well-written book defining a man whom most of us have never heard of.Library Journal
If [Conor OClerys] compelling narrative becomes a blue-print for future efforts to record the life stories of philanthropists, then the reading public might become far more aware of the major donors who have existed in their midst. OClerys account of how Charles Chuck Feeney rose from a blue-collar New Jersey neighbourhood to immense riches as founder of global retail enterprise Duty Free Shoppers, and then gave almost every cent away, reads like a cross between a whodunnit and an airport business guru book.Philanthropy UK
Dublin-based journalist OClery presents an archetypal American success story, a rags-to-riches account with a twist.... A smart business book detailing some vicissitudes of retailing, wrapped in a vivid biography of an engaging tycoon.Kirkus Reviews
For Americas new generation of Internet and private equity billionaires, this is an exemplary tale.FT.com
A gripping read.Sunday Business Post
ALSO BY CONOR OCLERY
Phrases Make History Here (1986)
Melting Snow: An Irishman in Moscow (1991)
America, A Place Called Hope? (1993)
Daring Diplomacy (1997; published in Ireland
as The Greening of the White House)
Ireland in Quotes (1999)
Panic at the Bank (coauthor, 2004)
This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth: first, to set an example of modest, unostentatious living, shunning display or extravagance; to provide moderately for the legitimate wants of those dependent upon him; and after doing so to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds which he is called upon to administer... to produce the most beneficial results for the community.
ANDREW CARNEGIE
(1835-1919)
AUTHORS NOTE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I first encountered Chuck Feeney at a White House party on March 17, 1994. I had been invited as a Washington-based journalist. Feeney was a guest because of his work to bring peace to Ireland. All I knew about him was that he was listed in Forbes magazine as a billionaire, and that he was wearing a cheap watch. But I didnt know, nor did anyone else in the East Room with Bill and Hillary Clinton that evening, that Chuck Feeney was the worlds biggest secret philanthropist. Nor did anyone there have any idea that far from being a billionaire, he did not even own a house or a car.
I got to know Chuck Feeney in 2002 when I was assigned by my newspaper to Wall Street and we were introduced by a mutual friend. After several lunch meetings, mostly in his favorite saloon, P. J. Clarkes on Third Avenue, he agreed to cooperate on a book about his life to promote giving while living. He undertook to release family, friends, associates, and beneficiaries from long-standing vows of secrecy, and to allow me access to his archives. He did not seek any control over the final product. Nor did he or his philanthropy finance the biography in any way.
I subsequently received unstinting access. I traveled with him around the world on his never-ending quest to put his foundations wealth to good use. I enjoyed lunches and dinners with him and his friends in locations as far apart as Honolulu and Ho Chi Minh City. Almost everyone who knew Feeney in his business and philanthropic life was enthusiastic about helping to tell his story, even those with whom he fell out during his business career. I traveled across the mainland United States and to Hawaii, the U.K., Ireland, France, Switzerland, Vietnam, Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Bermuda to conduct interviews with scores of people from different phases of his life.
I am particularly grateful to Chuck Feeney for the patience and good humor with which he endured long interview sessions, and to Chuck and Helga for allowing me to visit them in San Francisco, Brisbane, and Dublin. Members of the Feeney family went out of their way to be helpful: Caroleen Feeney, Danielle Feeney, Diane Feeney, Leslie Feeney Baily, Juliette Feeney Timsit, Patrick Feeney, Jim and Arlene Fitzpatrick, and Ursula Healy. Their insight was invaluable.
The book would not have been possible without the enthusiastic cooperation of Professor Harvey Dale of New York University, founding president of the Atlantic Philanthropies, and John R. Healy, the chief executive from 2001 to 2007.
I am especially grateful to Chuck Feeneys business partners in Duty Free ShoppersBob Miller, Alan Parker, and Tony Pilarowho graciously invited me into their homes in Geneva, Yorkshire, and Gstaad, respectively, to talk about their sometimes fractious relationship with the man who led them to unimaginable riches.
Thanks also to the following who gave interviews for the book: Gerry Adams, Harry Adler, Fred Antil, Adrian Bellamy, Padraig Berry, Gail Vincenzi Bianchi, Christine Bundeson, Jack Clark, Peter Coaldrake, Ron Clarke, Bob Cogan, Frank Connolly, Mark Conroy, Eamonn Cregan, Roger Downer, Francis Skip Downey, Jim Downey, Tass Dueland, Jim Dwyer, Joel Fleishman, Ken Fletcher, Phil Fong, John Ford, Howard Gardner, Jean Gentzbourger, John Green, Ray Handlan, Paul Hannon, Mark Hennessy, Ted Howell, Farid Khan, Hugh Lunn, Aine McCarthy, Vincent McGee, Jeff Mahlstedt, Colin McCrea, Michael McDowell, Michael Mann, Bob Matousek, Thomas Mitchell, John Monteiro, James Morrissey, Gerry Mullins, Frank Mutch, Niall ODowd, Chris Oechsli, Danny OHare, Pat Olyer, Le Nhan Phuong, Bernard Ploeger, Frank Rhodes, Chuck Rolles, David Rumsey, Dave Smith, Jim Soorley, Sam Smyth, Lee Sterling, Ernie Stern, Bonnie Suchet, Don Thornhill, Tom Tierney, Jiri Vidim, Ed Walsh, Sue Wesselkamper, Mike Windsor, and Cummings Zuill. Others who contributed to the project were Jonathan Anderson, Jane Berman, Loretta Brennan Glucksman, Mark Patrick Hederman, Chris Hewitt, Desmond Kinney and Esmeralda, Sylvia Severi, Paddy Smyth, and Walter Williams. Patrick OClery read the manuscript and made most helpful suggestions. Declan Kelly helped get the book under way. I am especially grateful for the encouragement of Esther Newberg, my agent, and the invaluable advice of Clive Priddle, editorial director of PublicAffairs. And finally, my sharp-eyed and imaginative wife, Zhanna, put so much time and editing talent into shaping this book that it became in the end something of a joint effort. For both of us it was a labor of love. I of course am solely responsible for any shortcomings or errors.
