Talks to Watch

Secret Billionaire: The Chuck Feeney Story

3.8M views · Jun 5, 2010 · 57:09 · 2 HN recommenders · 3 mentions · discussed 2018–2023

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.

Why Hacker News points people here: Recommended in threads on Feeney as a decent, thorough account of his anonymous giving.

“I watched an excellent documentary on this man a few years back[0].”HN comment, 2023

What Hacker News said 3

Recommendss_devMar 2018

“If anyone is looking for a documentary RTE (Irish broadcaster) did one a few years ago and it was decent.”

Irish broadcaster documentary on Feeney's giving

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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

in “Chuck Feeney: a billionaire who gave it all away” · view on HN
RecommendsdmkirwanOct 2023

“I watched an excellent documentary on this man a few years back[0].”

Documentary on Feeney's anonymous donations to Irish universities

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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

in “Charles (Chuck) Feeney, entrepreneur who gave $8B to charity, dies at 92” · view on HN
Cites itbogormanSep 2020

“The story is covered in the video.”

Covers Feeney's transformation of Irish education

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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

in “Chuck Feeney Is Now Officially Broke” · view on HN