> As of 2016, he lived in a rented apartment in San Francisco, with remaining assets of $2 million.
> [I]n 1984, [he] secretly transferred his entire 38.75% stake in DFS, then worth about $500 million, to the foundation. Not even his business partners knew that he no longer personally owned any part of DFS. For years, Atlantic gave away money in secret, requiring recipients to not reveal the sources of their donations.
A DAF has the same tax status as a charitable foundation you create but without the organizational overhead or potential abuses.
Possible selection bias there: we hear about the loud ones, more than the ones secretly giving away money.
> Feeney gave away more than $8 billion in his lifetime.
Of course most of them also like to live very comfortably and spend it. I guess once the $$ has a B in it maybe it becomes essentially impossible to spend it all and the money a theoretical concept at best.
Good for him to give back in the most selfless way.
Imagine your software got you to $5B, you can give away $4B, but you can also continue to grow and become a semiconductor superpower.