John Templeton

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For other persons named John Templeton, see John Templeton (disambiguation).

Sir John Marks Templeton (born 29 November 1912) is a stock investor, businessman and philanthropist. American born, he renounced his U.S. citizenship in 1968 to avoid paying U.S. taxes.[1] He has dual naturalized Bahamian and British citizenship and lives in the Bahamas.

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[edit] Biography

Templeton was born in the town of Winchester, Tennessee. He attended Yale University, pledged the Zeta Psi Fraternity and was selected for membership in the Elihu society. He graduated with a degree in economics in 1934 as a top scholar in his class. He was a Rhodes Scholar to Balliol College, University of Oxford from which he graduated with a M.A. degree in law. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter-holder. He received AIMR's first award for professional excellence in 1991.[2]

He married the former Judith Folk in 1937 and the couple had three children; John, Jr, Anne and Christopher. She died in February 1951. He married Irene Reynolds Butler in 1958. She died in 1993.

He is a lifelong member of the Presbyterian Church. He was a trustee on the board of Princeton Theological Seminary, the largest Presbyterian seminary, for 42 years and served as its chair for 12 years.

Templeton became a billionaire[3][4][5][6][7][8] by pioneering the use of globally diversified mutual funds. His Templeton Growth, Ltd. (investment fund), established in 1954, was among the first who invested in Japan in the middle of the 1960s.[9] In 2006, he was listed in a 7-way tie for 129th place on the Sunday Times Rich List. He rejects technical analysis for stock trading, preferring instead to use fundamental analysis.[6]

Templeton became a philanthropist, he established

In 1984 he endowed the Oxford Centre for Management Studies as a full college, Templeton College, of the University of Oxford, having as a focus business and management studies. It is now closely associated with the Said Business School of the university. In 2007, Templeton College sold its executive education program to Said Business School. In October 2008, Templeton College will merge with Green College to form Green Templeton College[2]. This is one of the exceptional mergers in recent history of the University of Oxford.

He was created a Knight Bachelor in 1987 for his philanthropic efforts.

Mr. Templeton was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1996.

In 2007, Templeton was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People (Time 100) under the category of "Power Givers." Templeton was given this honor for his "pursuit of spiritual understanding, often through scientific research" through his establishment of the John Templeton Foundation.[10]

[edit] Spirituality and the Templeton Foundation

As a member of the Presbyterian Church, Templeton is dedicated to his faith. Similarly, one of the major goals of the Templeton Foundation is to proliferate the monetary support of spiritual discoveries. The Templeton Foundation encourages research into "big questions" by awarding philanthropic aide to institutions and people who pursue the answers to such questions through "explorations into the laws of nature and the universe to questions on the nature of love, gratitude, forgiveness, and creativity."[11]

Templeton asserts that the purpose of the Templeton Foundation is as follows:

We are trying to persuade people that no human has yet grasped 1% of what can be known about spiritual realities. So we are encouraging people to start using the same methods of science that have been so productive in other areas, in order to discover spiritual realities.

—Sir John Templeton, Interview with Financial Intelligence Report

[edit] Selected publications

  • Riches for the Mind and Spirit: John Marks Templeton's Treasury of Words to Help, Inspire, and Live By, 2006. ISBN 1-5994-7101-9
  • Faithful Finances 101: From The Poverty Of Fear And Greed To The Riches Of Spiritual Investing, 2005. ISBN 1-9320-3175-8
  • Golden Nuggets from Sir John Templeton, 1997. ISBN 1-8901-5104-1
  • Discovering the Laws of Life, 1994. ISBN 0-8264-0861-3
  • Is God the Only Reality? Science Points to a Deeper Meaning of the Universe, 1994. ISBN 0-8264-0650-5
  • Templeton Plan: 21 Steps to Personal Success and Real Happiness, 1992. ISBN 0-0610-4178-5
  • The humble approach: Scientists discover God, 1981. ISBN 0-8164-0481-X

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The Long Good-Bye" Forbes. March 28, 2005.
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ "The Devout Donor" Business Week. November 28, 2005.
  4. ^ "Positive Psychology Network Concept Paper" by Martin E. P. Seligman. University of Pennsylvania.
  5. ^ "Free Cash for Savvy Fools" MSNBC. April 12, 2007.
  6. ^ a b "John Templeton's Five Steps for Financial Success" by Mark Stousen. December 11, 2005.
  7. ^ "Testing the role of trust and values in financial decisions" LA Times. January 21, 2007.
  8. ^ "An Investment Legend's Advice" by Bernard Condon. February 4, 2004.
  9. ^ "The Great Investors: John Templeton.".Alternative Stock Library, Jan. 15, 2008
  10. ^ Caplan, Jeremy, and Coco Masters. "Time 100." Time Magazine 14 May 2007: 84.
  11. ^ "About Us."." The John Templeton Foundation. 5 Jan. 2007. 17 May 2007

[edit] External links

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