The pioneering philanthropist Charles Feeney, best known as a man who gave almost all of his $8 billion amassed wealth away to philanthropic causes, died in San Francisco on Monday, aged 92. 

Atlantic Philanthropies, established by Feeney in the 1980s, announced his death. 

Feeney is reported to have only kept $2 million to himself, renting rather than owning a modest apartment in San Fransisco with his second wife while giving to causes for over 35 years. Feeney is known to not have owned a car, wore a $10 wristwatch, and preferred public transport.  

By 2016, he had completed the final donation available from Atlantic Philanthropies with a $7 million donation to Cornell University. 

Speaking to Forbes in 2012, Bill Gates described Feeney as “the ultimate example of giving while living”. Warren Buffet described him as a “hero”. 

Feeney made his money in start-up investments. Notorious for wanting to keep a low profile, he became a model donor, providing inspiration for some of the largest names in philanthropy who have arguably yet to give in such an altruistic manner.  

It is reported that his name appears on none of the 1,000 buildings he helped to fund around the world, at a total cost of $2.7 billion. 

He is known to have given anonymously to causes strengthening human rights, scientific research, and peace building initiatives across the globe.  

This was, perhaps, inspired by him being Irish American. Feeney, a frequent visitor of Northern Ireland during its violent, troubled years, gave to both sides of the Catholic/Protestant divide – both to Sinn Fein, advocates of Irish republicanism, and to the Ulster Defence League, a paramilitary group backing British rule.  

Feeney’s cross-community work helped secure the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. In 2007, Feeney was invited to join US, British and Irish leaders to witness the birth of a power-sharing government in Belfast. 

As well as his foundation, Feeney funded public-health facilities in Vietnam; the University of Limerick and Trinity College in Ireland (pictured); AIDS clinics in South Africa; Operation Smile’s free surgeries for children with cleft lips and palates; a medical campus for the University of California at San Francisco; and earthquake relief in Haiti. 

The New York Times described Feeney as “a rarity in the philanthropic world”. 

Shafi Musaddique is a news editor at Alliance magazine.