A French multimillionaire who won 220 million euros in December of 2020 is donating it to create an environmental preservation foundation.
The very new French multimillionaire, who has remained anonymous but goes by the nickname ‘Guy’, will donate most of the millions to establish a foundation. The sum of his winnings roughly converts to around $320 million AUD.
The foundation he created is dedicated to “the protection and revitalization of forests, the preservation and regeneration of biodiversity and support for family caregivers”, according to the website.
During an interview, Guy mentioned that planning for the foundation has been happening over the last two years where he was going to donate millions of his existing wealth, especially towards hospitals.
Now, after recently acquiring many millions, he’s able to do so much more. According to correspondence with The Parisian, Guy has already handed over most of his winnings to the fund and that he’ll eventually donate most of it over time.
In an open letter, Guy said: “During my life, I have witnessed in Côte d’Ivoire the incessant passage of trucks loaded with cut trees in the forests of Burkina Faso. This ballet of trucks marked me a lot, indignant”
He explained that he wants to continue to live a peaceful and discreet lifestyle, hence the anonymity. That’s understandable after winning so much!
Guy won his millions in Euromillions, the transnational lottery that requires seven correct numbers to win the jackpot. The lottery is currently available in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Switzerland.
The Française des Jeux, France’s operator of all national lottery games, said about the matter: “It is not uncommon for winners to be generous, but what is a first is the proportion of the prize paid to a philanthropic cause” and that this is a “big first” when it comes to donations of the multimillion size.
