Chinese Tycoon Donates a Billion Dollars to Charity

China's Yu Pengnian made a fortune in real estate, and now he's giving it back. The 88-year-old tycoon has slowly been transferring his wealth to his Yu Pengnian Foundation, and now he's gone the final step, pledging his final $470 million in cash and property to the charity.

This makes $1.2 billion he has put into his charity since he opened it in 2003, according to China Daily. "This will be my last donation. I have nothing more to give away," he said at a press conference announcing the final donation. The Yu Pengnian Foundation funds cataract surgeries for people in China. More than 150,000 surgeries have been performed in the last seven years. It also provides other monetary support for people in China's poorest regions.

Yu has several children, none of whom will inherit any of his fortunes, a move he says his children agree with. "If my children are more capable than me, it's not necessary to leave a lot of money to them. If they are incompetent, a lot of money will only be harmful to them," he said. Yu started out poor, and suffered from cataracts, which inspired him to start his charitable foundation.

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Wow this man should be an inspiration to us all not only as human beings but as parents also.

Imagine if the greedy SOB's in America would put up a fraction of what this man has to help the needy, America would be a much different place.

The thing that struck me the most is that this man is not giving any of his money to his kids and the way he explained this was just brilliant. If more parents stopped coddling their kids and started making them accountable for their financial future I think a greater percent of the population would be more productive.

Wow.
This is truly amazing! In a country like China, I'm impressed someone had the "guts" or the heart to do this!

Really good thread, It's great to read good news!


P.S. Buckethead rocks

People with that kind of mentality are few and far between.

Most charities I see these days are simply ways to funnel $$ into perverse agendas etc.

But this guy's charity seems legit.

I think he sounds like a real winner.

What did Jesus say? "The only way for a rich man into heaven is to give away all his possessions/wealth"? Something like this?

Well I guess MR Yu Pengnian just got his 1 way ticket to the promised land!

I wish the rest of humanity felt this way!!

S+F

More people should read this as it's such a great inspiration and something we really can/should learn from.

Thanks for posting!

Amazing charity, what a wonderful man. We should all be so giving, if not with money with time and self as well. We can all give as richly as this man in our own way.

reply to post by muzzleflash



I agree that not all charities have the peoples best interest in mind but this man seems to have a real passion for helping unfortunate people. It's nice to see that he is trying to help people overcome the same illness he had as well as giving back to people in other situations.

This is truly amazing! I'm more amazed at the children rather than the old guy himself, simply because he is going to die anyway. It's awefully big of those offspring.

Here in the US, that money would have a good chance on being used to create a family dynasty that would only make life on this planet all the more difficult. This is exactly why only evil families make it to the top. Anybody with kindness in their heart would be helping the poor or less fortunate. Just my 2 cents.
--airspoon

Fair play to old Mr Yu Pengnian and his family real positive roll models, this story has put a smile on my face.

Originally posted by airspoon
Anybody with kindness in their heart would be helping the poor or less fortunate. Just my 2 cents.
--airspoon

Not just kindness, but logic.

By working together our species can achieve true advancement.

By bringing the poor up, the whole race improves.

By giving the poor a chance, they can maybe one day become scientists and then help contribute to SOLVING the world's problems.

So it is in our survival interest as a species.

I really like the fact that he is not giving his fortune to his children. My parents raised me to work for the things I own, and I will do the same when I have children. I understand parents helping out with college, but what I can't stand is to see a bunch of people I graduated with years ago getting a free ride at a university because their parents payed for the whole thing.

reply to post by TV_Nation


I hate to be the wet rag, but if he was living in a purely socialist state, he would not be able to do this. Okay, I like being a wet rag.

Forced charity versus real charity.

Go true capitalism! Go Yu Pengnian!