The super-rich who gave away their entire fortunes
lovemoney staff
20 July 2017
The world's most generous donors
Billionaire Chuck Feeney signed the final check for his American Philanthropies charity earlier this year, handing over the last of his $8 billion (£6.2bn) fortune. The Irish-American uber-philanthropist isn't the only high-net-worther to have given away an entire fortune. Take a look at the socially-conscious millionaires and billionaires who donated the vast majority of their riches to good causes.
Jon Bennion-Pedley
British telecoms tycoon Jon Bennion-Pedley had a wake-up call when he was involved in a car accident in 2002 and decided to start giving back to society. In 2010, Bennion-Pedley went all out and sold his business, home and most of his belongings, worth millions, to move to Africa, live in a mud hut and start a charity for impoverished children.
Mazzi Dumato
Likewise, Syrian businessman Mazzi Dumato opted for a complete life overhaul after he crashed his Ferrari in Dubai in 2016. Feeling lucky to be alive, the real estate and internet investor ditched his playboy lifestyle in favor of a simple, hippie existence and gave away the vast majority of his $3 million (£2.3m) fortune to charity.
Allen and Violet Large
Super-generous Nova Scotia couple Allen and Violet Large were fairly comfortably off when they bagged a $8.9 million (£6.8m) lottery payout in July 2010, and didn't waste any time giving it away. By November 2010, the couple had donated the lot to family, friends and charities including the Red Cross.
Ray and Barbara Wragg
Generous to a T, Ray and Barbara Wragg from Sheffield didn't think twice about giving away their fortune when they scooped $10 million (£7.6m) on the UK Lottery back in 2000. The couple have spent the last 17 years dishing out to cash to family, friends and other good causes, leaving themselves with nothing apart from a wonderful sense of satisfaction.
Brian Burnie
Recruitment firm boss Brian Burnie decided to give away millions when his wife Shirley was given the all-clear from breast cancer. The English entrepreneur sold their $20.7 million (£16m) mansion in 2012, ploughing all their cash into his Daft as a Brush Patient Cancer Care charity. While Brian and Shirley have since divorced, the charity is still going strong and Brian has received accolade after accolade for his work.
Percy Ross
Self-made multimillionaire Percy Ross was best known for his Thanks a Million newspaper column and radio show, which doled out cash to readers in need who wrote in and asked for assistance. Ross, who died in 2001, ended up giving away an estimated $30 million (£23m) during his lifetime, helping countless people.
Tom Crist
In May 2013, Calgary native Tom Crist scooped a record $32 million (£25m) lottery jackpot. Instead of splurging his winnings on luxury real estate, sportscars and the like, Crist channeled the lot into a charitable fund in memory of his wife Janice, who died of cancer in February 2012. Recipients of Crist's Lotto cash include the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary.
Zell Kravinsky
Philadelphia-born Zell Kravinsky has donated the $45 million (£35m) fortune he made from real estate to a number of key health organizations and charities, and has even given away a kidney. Taking philanthropy to the extreme, the ultra-altruistic investor donated the organ in 2004.
Sam Simon
The co-creator of The Simpsons, Sam Simon amassed a $100 million (£77m) fortune during his lifetime. Upon his death in 2012, the whole lot went to a range of charities close to his heart, including PETA and the PTSD – Simon was an advocate for animal rights and funded a pet clinic in 2002.
Eldon Foote
Canadian entrepreneur Eldon Foote, who made his money selling Swipe detergent in Japan, donated almost his entire fortune of $130 million (£100m) to the Edmonton Community Foundation before he died in 2004, easily the largest-ever donation to a community organization in Canada.
Shaw McBride
In September 2009, Shaw McBride of Brunswick, Georgia won $159 million (£122m) on the Georgia State Lottery and immediately set about giving it all away. Eschewing the material life, the committed Christian decided to donate his entire winnings to good causes, saying at the time, “with money I can only buy things I don't need”.
Roy Cockrum
Roy Cockrum scooped a bumper $259 million (£199m) jackpot in 2014, which was the largest ever in the history of the Tennessee State Lottery. A former monk who has taken a vow of poverty, Cockrum has set aside a modest sum of money for himself and donated the rest of his winnings to good causes.
Albert Gubay
The late Albert Gubay, who founded UK supermarket chain Kwik Save, transferred the lion's share of his $626 million (£480m fortune) to a charitable trust back in 2010, half of which he earmarked for projects connected with the Catholic Church. A devout Christian, years previously the Welsh supermarket tycoon made a 'pact with God' to give away a chunk of his fortune.
Joan Kroc
The wife of McDonald's CEO Ray Kroc, Joan Kroc was nicknamed 'Saint Joan of the Arches' on account of her mega-philanthropy. Kroc, who died in 2003, donated millions of dollars to charitable causes during her lifetime, and bequeathed $1.9 billion (£1.5bn) to good causes, including a whopping $1.5 billion (£1.2bn) to the Salvation Army.
Yu Panglin
Hong Kong real estate tycoon Yu Panglin, who passed away in 2015, left his entire $2 billion (£1.5bn) fortune to charity, the first Chinese billionaire to do so. A lifelong philanthropist, the rags-to-riches tycoon opted to disinherit his children as he believed a lot of money would only be harmful to them.
Patsy Bullitt Collins
One of Seattle's most noted philanthropists, Patsy Bullitt Collins spent her life giving away her sizeable fortune. The well-heeled socialite, who died in 2003, donated hundreds of millions of dollars to a variety of charities and organizations, particularly those devoted to the arts and the environment.
Chuck Feeney
In 1984, the 'James Bond of philanthropy' quietly transferred his stake in Duty Free Shoppers Group, the firm he co-founded in 1960, to his charitable foundation. Since then, Feeney, who lives frugally and doesn't even own a home, has given away his entire $8 billion (£6.2bn) fortune, supporting everything from the Northern Ireland Peace Process to public health in Vietnam.
Henry Wellcome
Pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome, who died in 1936, is renowned for bequeathing almost his entire fortune to charity. Money from the legacy was used to set up the Wellcome Trust, one of the world's largest medical charities and a major private funder of medical research.
Andrew Carnegie
The original mega-philanthropist, Gilded Age industrialist Andrew Carnegie gave away 90% of his wealth during the last 18 years of his life, donating a total of $350 million (£268m) to good causes, equivalent to billions of dollars in today's money. Most famously, the money funded 3,000 public libraries in the US.
John D. Rockefeller
Along with Andrew Carnegie, oil industry magnate John D. Rockefeller defined the structure of modern philanthropy. The richest American of all time, Rockefeller pumped his wealth into myriad good causes from public health to education. In total, Rockefeller gave away $540 million (£414m) before his death in 1937, the bulk of his fortune.
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