Chuck Feeney has five children; four females and one male. Their names are Caroleen A. Feeney, Diane V. Feeney, Juliette M. Feeney-Timsit, Leslie D. Feeney-Baily; and one son, Patrick A. Feeney. He had all these children with his first wife, Danielle.
Chuck Feeney biography
He was the esteemed founder of The Atlantic Philanthropies, a globally recognized private charitable foundation of significant magnitude. For many years, Feeney discreetly distributed his vast fortune, until an unfortunate business dispute led to the revelation of his identity in 1997.
Throughout his lifetime, Feeney generously bestowed over $8 billion in philanthropic endeavours. Born on 23 April 1931 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, during the challenging era of the Great Depression, Feeney hailed from a humble background with hardworking Irish-American parents of modest means.
His mother served as a dedicated hospital nurse, while his father pursued a career as an insurance underwriter. His ancestral roots can be traced back to County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland.
Feeney completed his education at Elizabeth’s St. Mary of the Assumption High School in 1949, an experience he credits for instilling his philanthropic values. Notably, his remarkable contribution of $250,000 in 2016 stands as the largest single donation in the history of the school. During the Korean War, Feeney served as a radio operator in the U.S. Air Force and embarked on his professional journey in the 1950s, selling duty-free liquor to U.S. naval personnel at Mediterranean ports.
Chuck Feeney career
The concept of duty-free shopping, which involves offering high-end concessions to travelers without import taxes, was in its nascent stage when Feeney and his college classmate Robert Warren Miller embarked on selling duty-free liquor to American servicemen in Asia during the 1950s.
Their business expanded to include the sale of cars and tobacco, leading to the establishment of the Duty Free Shoppers Group (DFS Group) on November 7, 1960. Initially operating in Hong Kong, DFS later expanded its operations to Europe and other continents.
A significant breakthrough for DFS occurred in the early 1960s when it secured the exclusive concession for duty-free sales in Hawaii, enabling the company to target Japanese travelers.
Over time, DFS further expanded its reach by establishing off-airport duty-free stores and large downtown Galleria stores, ultimately becoming the largest travel retailer globally. By the mid-1990s, DFS was generating profits of up to $300 million annually, which were distributed among Feeney, Miller, and two additional partners.
These substantial returns were largely attributed to DFS, like many other retailers in Asia, implementing significantly higher markups on Western luxury items compared to those in Europe and the United States. While a retailer in New York might price a designer handbag at 2.2 or 2.3 times the wholesale price, the standard practice in Asia was to set the retail price at three times the wholesale price.
Who Are Chuck Feeney children?
Four of Chuck Feeney’s children are female and one is male. They go by the names of Patrick A. Feeney, Caroleen A. Feeney, Diane V. Feeney, Juliette M. Feeney-Timsit, and Leslie D. Feeney-Baily. He had all his children with his first wife, Danielle. It’s not known if he had children with his second wife, Helga, whom he married in 1995 after divorcing Danielle.
ncG1vNJzZmismJrBorjKrKuonJGue6S7zGiknp2kYrCivs6lnJ6mXZm2orrEZqGupJmawbWxjKWcrKSZmnqiusNmp5qsop6wrHnFnpynnalk