The Billionaire Who Wasn't

Table of Contents

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Chuck Feeney's 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 O'Clery's
The Billionaire Who Wasn't: How Chuck Feeney Secretly Made and Gave Away a Fortune.
In vivid, unvarnished prose,
The Billionaire Who Wasn't
recounts Feeney's meteoric rise from blue-collar beginnings in Elizabeth, N.J., to a perch as one of America's titans of commerce, head of Duty Free Shoppers, the largest liquor retailer in the world.”—
Washington Post
's 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 O'Clery's brilliantly engrossing account, is that Feeney both embodies and rebukes the American Dream. O'Clery 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 O'Clery's] 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. O'Clery's 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 O'Clery 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 America's new generation of Internet and private equity billionaires, this is an exemplary tale.”—
FT.com

 

“A gripping read.”—
Sunday Business Post

ALSO BY CONOR O'CLERY

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)

 

ANDREW CARNEGIE
(1835-1919)

AUTHOR'S 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 didn't know, nor did anyone else in the East Room with Bill and Hillary Clinton that evening, that Chuck Feeney was the world's 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. Clarke's 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 foundation's 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 Feeney's business partners in Duty Free Shoppers—Bob Miller, Alan Parker, and Tony Pilaro—who 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 O'Dowd, Chris Oechsli, Danny O'Hare, 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 O'Clery 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.

All sources are identified in the text except in rare instances where someone requested anonymity or nonattribution.

PROLOGUE

It was sunny and already hot at Nassau International Airport early on Friday, November 23, 1984, as passengers disembarked after the three-hour flight from New York. Most were American vacationers intent on partying in the Bahamas over Thanksgiving weekend. One rather deferential middle-aged man in blazer and open-neck shirt, unremarkable but for his penetrating blue eyes, emerged from economy class. He and his wife took a taxi to an office building on Cable Beach, a string of hotels and apartment blocks by the pale aquamarine ocean waters of the Atlantic, halfway between the airport and the city of Nassau. He was in familiar territory, as he had often used the subtropical island for the business dealings that made him one of the world's wealthiest men. This time, however, he had come to the Bahamas to conclude a deal unlike any he had made before, one that would change his life irrevocably.

Two attorneys were also bound for the Bahamas that morning to meet him. Frank Mutch flew into Nassau airport from Bermuda to act as a legal witness to the deal. Harvey Dale was expected to arrive simultaneously from Florida, where he was spending Thanksgiving with his parents. He was bringing all the necessary documentation. Dale had choreographed the event with meticulous attention to detail. The culmination of two years of planning, the transaction was taking place in the Bahamas to avoid the huge financial penalties that it would incur elsewhere. The Harvard-trained lawyer had secured a conference room from a trust company at Cable Beach where the papers would be signed, a complex process that would take up to three hours but would still allow time for everyone to catch evening flights back to their points of departure.