In December 1868, having just turned 33, Andrew Carnegie sat down and wrote a memo to himself. His net worth was $400,000. With careful management, he predicted he could earn $50,000 in dividends each year for the rest of his life. “Beyond this never earn,” he resolved. “Make no effort to increase fortune, but spend the surplus each year for benevolent purposes. Cast aside business forever except for others.”
He kept the memo for the rest of his life, and by the time of his death in 1919 he had given away $350,695,650. That is nearly $5 billion today. He endowed universities, museums, libraries, and initiatives to support science, the arts, and world peace. “The man who dies rich, dies disgraced,” he wrote. Today his legacy is scattered across the United States, with numerous buildings and charities continuing under his name.
Just another WordPress site