Monday, November 3, 2014
Atlantic Philanthropies is Down to its Last Billion Dollars
The once ultrasecretive foundation funded by Chuck Feeney, who made his fortune as a founder of the Duty Free Shoppers Group, is making good on its promise to give away all of its money in the next two years.
But unlike the early days of the foundation, when it went to great lengths to ensure recipients did not know the identity of their benefactor, it wants to go out with a bang when it makes its last grant in 2016. While the so-called spend-down of the foundation’s assets includes plans for larger-than-normal grants and individual fellowships, it also involves sharing lessons learned in the process of giving away $7.5 billion over the last 30-odd years....