Sir John Templeton, Philanthropist and Investor, dies at 95
by cecile
Sir John Templeton was one of the most interesting people ever to amass an enormous fortune on Wall Street. He was in the forefront in the creation of mutual funds and early on led the way for U.S. investing in foreign markets. In the 1970’s and 80’s if you invested in a mutual fund, very likely it was a Templeton Fund.
He was twelve during the Scopes Trial and lived only 60 miles away from Dayton, TN. Many believe that it launched his lifelong fascination with religion and science and his attempts to reconcile the two.
He established philanthropic organizations and founded the Templeton Prize for “progress in religion” and “research or discoveries.” It is estimated that he gave away $70 million a year to people such as Mother Teresa, Billy Graham, Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, the physicist Freeman Dyson and a host of others.
He authored numerous books on finance and spirituality including Thrift and Generosity: The Joy of Giving, Discovering the Laws of Life and Is Progress Speeding Up?
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