On September 13, 2013, a retired legal professional named Jack MacDonald died in a Seattle-area retirement residence. He was 98. Usually, the loss of life of a person who was simply two years shy of being 100 would not precisely be newsworthy. However because it seems, Jack MacDonald was no bizarre man. In case you met Jack whereas he was alive, you most likely would have been struck by his frugality and obvious lack of means. You may need even been tempted to supply to purchase him a heat meal or some new garments.
In case you sat subsequent to Jack on a public bus, you’d have been forgiven for assuming he was a solitary, lonely previous man residing out his ultimate years simply barely above the poverty line. Jack solely rode public transportation, utilizing a reduction fare card for folks above a sure age. He wore ragged, used garments. His sweaters have been stuffed with holes. He was a passionate coupon clipper, all the time on the hunt for a discount.
That wasn’t the complete story. Because it turned out, that rag-wearing bus passenger was secretly sitting on a completely insane private fortune. The complete extent of that fortune solely turned recognized within the weeks following Jack’s loss of life when three Seattle charities obtained the shock of a lifetime…
(through Seattle Kids’s Hospital)
Who Was Jack MacDonald?
Jack Rupert MacDonald was born Could 5, 1915, in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. When he was three years previous, his household moved to Seattle. Jack attended Broadway Excessive College, the College of Washington, and the UW Legislation College.
After spending three years serving within the Military within the South Pacific, Jack returned to Seattle, the place he labored as an legal professional for greater than 30 years. In 1971, Jack met and married Mary Katherine Moore, a widow who had two grownup kids. In his 50s on the time of the wedding, Mary Katherine helped open Jack’s eyes to the wonders of the world. Once they weren’t touring to locations like Africa, Australia, and Europe, the couple made their residence within the Seattle suburb of Magnolia, Washington.
In 1997, Jack and Mary moved right into a retirement neighborhood referred to as The Horizon Home. Mary died two years later, leaving Jack a widow for the subsequent 16 years till his personal passing in 2013.
Secret Millionaire
Along with his raggedy garments and coupon clippings, in case you visited Jack at The Horizon Home, you may need been struck by the quite a few copies of Forbes Journal and The Wall Road Journal that have been neatly stacked in each nook of his room. Clearly, the inventory market was a little bit of a passion for the previous legal professional. In actual fact, Jack walked to his stockbroker’s workplace as soon as a day to examine on his accounts.
In keeping with his personal stepdaughter, Jack was “superb” at choosing shares:
“He did not belief a whole lot of different folks to do his analysis. He directed what he needed purchased, and he actually knew what he needed.“
However earlier than his loss of life, solely a really small circle of household and advisors had any idea of simply how superb Jack was at choosing shares.
It must be famous that Jack did not precisely begin from scratch. In 1933, his dad and mom based the MacDonald Meat Firm, which ultimately grew into a really worthwhile provider of meat and seafood to Washington space eating places and inns. Right this moment, the corporate exports its merchandise everywhere in the world to shoppers in varied Asian nations and even so far as Russia. After inheriting the enterprise, Jack started investing his income into the inventory market.
Secret Philanthropist
Regardless of his frugal look, through the years, Jack did present just a few clues about his wealth. In some unspecified time in the future, he began sending nameless donations to a sleepy Canadian city referred to as Elora, which is the place his paternal grandfather emigrated to from Scotland. Because the donations to Elora totaled greater than $150,000, Jack was ultimately revealed because the supply. Elora used the cash to construct an ice rink and refurbish the city corridor. Elora renamed their city sq. after Jack.
Whereas he was alive, Jack additionally donated $536,000 to a hospital referred to as the Seattle Kids’s Analysis Institute. He would periodically journey the bus to the hospital to go to with the youngsters and listen to their tales. And whereas gifting away roughly $683,000 to charity is extraordinarily commendable, it nonetheless pales compared to what the world discovered subsequent.
Secret Large Fortune
As we talked about at first, Jack MacDonald died on September 13, 2013. Inside just a few weeks of his loss of life, three Seattle charities have been knowledgeable that they have been the beneficiaries of his property. In his will, Jack left his property as follows:
- 40% to the Seattle Kids’s Analysis Institute
- 30% to his alma mater, The College of Washington Legislation College
- 30% to the Salvation Military Northwest Division
So, precisely how a lot cash would these three charities be splitting?
Jack MacDonald, the frugal man who clipped coupons, wore ragged garments, and rode public transportation, left behind an property valued at…
$187.6 million
Let that sink in. All that point Jack MacDonald was using the bus, he was secretly sitting on an absolute fortune. Judging by his look when Jack walked to his stockbroker’s workplace each day, you’d have assumed he was checking on an IRA or 401 (okay) account containing just a few hundred thousand {dollars}, at most. However nope, this former legal professional was managing a roughly $200 million inventory portfolio, all from a modest room inside a suburban retirement residence!
The College of Washington Legislation College and the Salvation Military every obtained $56.3 million. Jack’s donation to UW nonetheless stands as the biggest reward within the historical past of each the legislation college AND the College of Washington at giant.
The Seattle Kids’s Hospital obtained $75 million. They named a constructing in his honor: The Jack R. MacDonald Seattle Kids’s Analysis Institute.
It Will get Higher!
Assuming they have not bought the shares that made up the portfolio, on the time of his reward, every charity was projected to earn between $3 and $4 million per 12 months in curiosity and dividends alone off the trusts.
All from a person who lived in a modest retirement residence. A person who wore ragged garments rode the bus and clipped coupons each day of his life. It is a man whom you’d have tried to take out for a sizzling meal and a brand new set of sweaters, not a monetary tycoon with a portfolio that may have impressed fellow Seattle philanthropist Invoice Gates himself. However as we now have discovered, appearances could be deceiving. Jack MacDonald was an incredible man whose life and legacy will hopefully encourage many others to comply with his path!
