CHICAGO (Fox 32 News) - A Chicago man who bought $1,000 worth of stock 70 years ago grew that money into millions, and has donated the money to create a wildlife sanctuary.
Russ Gremel, 98, never married and never had kids. He bought $1,000 worth of Walgreens stock decades ago, and kept it. Today, it's worth about $2 million, reported the Chicago Tribune.
Gremel donated the money to the Illinois Audubon Society. This weekend, the group dedicated the 400-acre Gremel Wildlife Sanctuary near Dixon, Illinois.
"You have to do some good in this world, that's what money is for," Gremel told the Tribune.
jakes_garage on June 5th, 2017 at 06:19 UTC »
This man was my scout master! The most interesting and the smartest man ive ever met.
tuctrohs on June 5th, 2017 at 01:38 UTC »
"to wildlife" really means "to create a wildlife sanctuary," in case anyone had concerns about a bear now owning the stock and the resulting bear market.
Edit: For those wondering whether this was an effective use of the money, r/EffectiveAltruism is a sub devoted to discussions of what actually would be effective donations. Spoiler alert: giving cash to bears is not one of their favored approaches.
CigarInMyAnus on June 5th, 2017 at 01:27 UTC »
That is about a $11,000 initial investment in WAG stock in today's money with a 7.72 real rate of return if anybody is curious.