14. Yu Panglin
The next story comes from Yu Panglin, a former Chinese real estate and hotel tycoon turned generous philanthropist. Panglin donated a total of $1.2 billion of his wealth to his charity foundation.
This decision affected not just those in need, but also his two sons. They were left with nothing. Panglin did that for the sake of his sons. Of course, this raised criticism, but Panglin explained that money may corrupt them and they should learn to handle themselves without his fortune. And that is a message Panglin wanted all billionaires to hear.
This might have something to do with the fact that Panglin grew up in poverty. He witnessed the hardships the poor had to endure throughout their entire life. And that is an important value in terms of achieving in life.
Panglin designated HSBC to look after all of his money with explicit instructions. Also, he gave them restrictions for others (his family) to invest or inherit the funds. This generosity put Panglin on top of China’s most generous philanthropist list.
