Donald Trump is now the meanest billionaire in creation - that’s official -- Contrast with the most generous, Irish American Chuck Feeney, never greater

Donald Trump

Donald Trump is the meanest billionaire in creation and it is now official says New York Times columnist Nick Kristoff in his recent column.

Kristoff names CNN founder Ted Turner as the most generous because of his $1 billion gift to the United Nations 15 years ago but he’s wrong there.

All available evidence is that it is Irish American Chuck Feeney who began the ‘Giving While Living’ trend now embraced by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet among others.

Kristoff says Turner was the inspiration for giving while living but it was Feeney, a man I have known well for over 25 years now because of his involvement in Ireland, who led the way.

As Forbes magazine recently noted “Chuck Feeney is the James Bond of philanthropy. Over the last 30 years he’s crisscrossed the globe conducting a clandestine operation to give away a $7.5 billion fortune ....His foundation, the Atlantic Philanthropies, has funneled $6.2 billion into education, science, health care, aging and civil rights in the U.S., Australia, Vietnam, Bermuda, South Africa and Ireland.

"Few living people have given away more, and no one at his wealth level has ever given their fortune away so completely during their lifetime. The remaining $1.3 billion will be spent by 2016, and the foundation will be shuttered in 2020. While the business world’s titans obsess over piling up as many riches as possible, Feeney is working double time to die broke.”

Meanwhile an investigation by The Smoking Gun website revealed Donald Trump as the meanest of all the billionaires.

He says he is worth $7 billion and he has given away all of $3.7 million in that time the Smoking Gun folks found.

“From 1990 through 2009, Trump has personally donated a total of just $3.7 million to his foundation, which was incorporated in 1987. In fact, the billionaire is not even the largest contributor to his own charitable organization.”

He has given away less about $200,000 a year during that time.

Putting it in context Michael Bloomberg gave away $235 million last year alone. Chuck Feeney is giving that much away before breakfast -- every day, every year.

I remember asking Feeney about Trump and receiving a highly uncomplimentary answer. Seems he had reached out to him once on a non-profit housing venture in one off New York’s toughest neighborhoods but the Donald was not interested,

Of course not.

Jim Dwyer of The New York Times wrote memorably that "Chuck Feeney was what Donald Trump would be if he led his life backward."

As we face a new year the two men represent different visions of the American dream.

One is a chest thumping, look at me Scrooge, the other, embodies the incredibly generous philanthropic soul of this country that is the envy of every other democracy.

I have no doubt whose side we should all come down on.

Ireland needs a Minister for the Diaspora to identify next generation of Irish American leaders - Impact of men like Don Keough and Chuck Feeney greater than generations of Irish leaders

Chuck Feeney

Irish Americans such as Chuck Feeney and Donald Keough have had a more positive transformative impact in Ireland than generations of politicians there.

That was the main point I made in my speech accepting the Tip O’Neill Donegal Diaspora award in Buncrana last night before 400 people. I stated that I believed there are many other Don Keoughs and Chuck Feeneys out there in Irish America but the Irish government needs to get serious about identifying them.

It is not enough to just hold occasional Farmleigh Diaspora type meetings, make fine speeches praising the Diaspora and then let it fade until the next meeting. I believe the government should appoint a Minister for the Diaspora charged with identifying the next generation of Chuck Feeneys and Don Keoughs as well as having the minister work seriously on issues such as immigration reform in America which is very important to Irish living there as well as Irish hoping to emigrate legally.

The battle to get America involved in the peace process was very tough but a combination of far-seeing Irish government input and Irish American clout made the intervention of men like Bill Clinton and George Mitchell possible.

We need that same kind of energy and commitment now to issues like Irish American investment and immigration reform he stated. The work of Chuck Feeney and Don Keough were examples of what could be achieved.

Chuck Feeney’s $1.6 billion dollars contribution to Irish universities through Atlantic Philanthropies has meant that they can compete on the world stage and that future generations of Irish students can also compete with the best.

Before Feeney’s grant giving Irish universities lagged badly inresearch and were not equipped to cope in the modern era.

The fact that an unprecedented nine universities jointly honored Chuck Feeney this week shows just how critical his support was to them. In addition Feeney played a critical role in getting President Bill Clinton involved in the Irish peace process and funded the Sinn Fein office in Washington at a time when that organization needed every reassurance that the turn away from militant Republicanism could pay off.

Speaking about Donald Keough, I stated “He and Irish businessman Martin Naughton brought the Notre Dame Game to Ireland with its $150 million spin off for the Irish economy.”

“That game came about because of the Keough/Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at Notre Dame which Don Keough set up in 1993. Now it is the premier Irish Studies program in the United States and indeed world wide.

“But more than that, he established Coca-Cola in Ireland back when the IDA desperately needed major US clients to kick start Ireland’s economic development

“Today he remains a vital resource for Ireland in reaching out to other leading business leaders and discussing investment in Ireland with them,” I said.

I said I believed We needed to identify the next generation of Don Keoughs and Chuck Feeneys in the same way we need to identify the political successors to men like  Tip O’Neill who did so much for Ireland.

The Irish government should significantly ramp up its efforts to do so.

Chuck Feeney Ireland’s greatest Irishman, gets a proper honor at last -- Shy and secretive billionaire steps forward to accept the plaudits

Chuck Feeney speaks at a book party for his biography, Sept. 24 at the Mutual of America Building in New York City. (Credit: Nuala Purcell)

They came to praise Chuck Feeney yesterday in Dublin at Dublin Castle and it was about time.

Nine universities, a former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, and the current Prime Minister Enda Kenny gathered at the former seat of British power in Ireland to pay their respects.

I was delighted to be there to witness the long overdue tribute to the man who may well be the most important Irish person of the last half century.

He has singlehandedly boosted Irish education standards for generations with his phenomenal gift giving to Irish universities.

But typically, the man himself has resisted all efforts to honor him, preferring the quiet places and lifestyle that have marked his career. Incredibly, yesterday was his first honorary degree.

Yet in recent years he decided that his plan which he entitled "Giving while living" had to receive the oxygen of publicity and he had to step out and become a more public figure.

One of his first events was at our magazine Irish America's Hall of Fame induction luncheon last year. Yesterday was another step in his creation of a public persona.

His giving while living concept is simple. You can't take it with you and there are no pockets in a shroud.

Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and other billionaires have listened and met with Feeney and he has had a remarkable impact on them since he has gone public.

Both men have agreed a similar type strategy when it comes to their billions. The world is a lot better place as a result.

Feeney has given $1.6 billion to university institutions the length and breadth of Ireland, North and South, and allowed them to be competitive with universities everywhere.

Generations of Irish students, trained to the hilt in research methods and new avenues of exploration and confident in their abilities, have gone forth and will continue to do so because of the incredible generosity of Feeney.

Could there be anything more important for this next generation of Irish facing the challenges they have?

Chuck Feeney has " transformed Ireland's higher education and research capacity and had used his wealth in the 'spirit of the true benefactor." Mary Robinson said.

Prime Minister Kenny stated that Feeney was "an extraordinary man who has made an extraordinary contribution to Ireland."

I am happy to have been part of his other great contribution to Ireland, the peace process. He was one of a small group of Irish Americans I put together who convinced Bill Clinton to become involved back when most people thought we were mad to even try.

Feeney played a critical role in that American dimension too .

For that and all the other good things he has done for Ireland, Feeney may well be the most important Irishman of the last half century. No one has left a more significant mark both in today's terms and for future generations.

Which is why it was great to be there yesterday and see at last, a major acknowledgement of that. And Chuck Feeney wore a tie for the occasion, which  he is loathe to do --- so it must have been very important to him!