atlanticphil
2 HN recommenders · recommended in 3 months, 2018–2023
57:09 · 3.8M views · Jun 5, 2010
An RTE documentary on Chuck Feeney, the Atlantic Philanthropies founder who secretly gave away his fortune. It covers his Giving While Living approach and his gifts to Irish education.
Recommended in threads on Feeney as a decent, thorough account of his anonymous giving.
3 comments from Hacker News
What a legacy. I watched an excellent documentary on this man a few years back[0]. He donated massive sums of money (up to $1 billion) to third level institutions in Ireland, all on the condition of anonymity. I would love to see an assessment of the return that this investment had on Ireland and the world. On institution benefited from the lion's share of this: University of Limerick. I recall the then-President of the university saying in an interview that he was under extreme pressure to reveal the source of investment as there was a significant drug problem in the city at the time and people were speculating it was the proceeds of crime! Another story that came out years after the fact was that he once invested millions in third level education in Ireland on the condition that the government match it, which they reluctantly did. 0: this video
If anyone is looking for a documentary RTE (Irish broadcaster) did one a few years ago and it was decent. The institute he set up Atlantic Philanthropies has very recently closed it's door in Ireland having completed its mission. Ah found it: this video
The Irish education system was also transformed with his generosity. The University of Limerick is a great example. The story is covered in the video. this video