10. Percy Ross
Seventeen years from 1983, there was a column in more than 800 newspapers called Thanks a Million. That column was made for people in United States to write to Percy Ross and ask him for money.
Thousands of people did exactly that. Some of them had their wishes granted, some of them did not. Ross chose those whom he felt genuinely in need and gave them money from his wealth. He claimed that he had given around $30 million through this column.
Some would argue that he did all of those for publicity sake. But hey, let’s not speak bad of the dead. Percy Ross gave away most of his money he earned. And he did help many people through this charity column, regardless the motive.
His philanthropic life has overshadowed his successful life as a self-made multi-millionaire. Not many people know that he successfully revived Poly-Tech from bankruptcy as he purchased it in 1959. It is a polyethylene plastic bag manufacturing company. And it is still up and running today.
