- Charles “Chuck” Feeney, 89, who cofounded airport retailer Duty Free Shoppers with Robert Miller in 1960, amassed billions while living a life of monklike frugality. As a philanthropist, he pioneered the idea of Giving While Living—spending most of your fortune on big, hands-on charity bets instead of funding a foundation upon death. Since you can't take it with you—why not give it all away, have control of where it goes and see the results with your own eyes?
That always seems a bit self-serving, to have your name permanently engraved over the entrance to a fancy new sports complex or dormatory. But I can't find Feeney Hall at cornell.edu. Where did the billion go? It costs over $69,000 a year to go to Cornell—but this is how much students actually pay Philanthropic billionaires who are not also attention hounds make it hard to follow the money, but one grant from the foundation established the Frank H.T. Rhodes Fund supporting community service (named for a president with no obvious relationship to the De Beers diamond magnate who founded the Rhodes Scholarship).Where did $8 billion go? Feeney gave $3.7 billion to education, including nearly $1 billion to his alma mater, Cornell, which he attended on the G.I. Bill.
At Cornell University, many students end up paying less than the published tuition price — some significantly so. For the 2019-2020 academic year, undergraduate tuition for New York residents studying agriculture and life sciences, human ecology or industrial and labor relations is $37,880 per year, while tuition for students from other states and studying other subjects is $56,500.
Cornell's financial aid website guarantees that families with total incomes under $60,000 and total assets less than $100,000 (including home equity) are not expected to contribute toward the cost of attending Cornell, and students are not expected to take on loans.