5 extremely rich people who gave it ALL away

Jon Pedley was a millionaire who owned a huge telecommunications company and a 1.5 million dollars farm house in Essex. Because of his bachelor lifestyle, he engaged in alcohol, womanizing, and other vices. That is until one day in 2002, when an alcohol-fueled car accident left him on the verge of death. However, he survived and upon getting out of the hospital had a complete change of heart and decided to give up everything he had to charity. He sold his home and business for millions, moved into a mud hut in Uganda where he began a charity called J1010.

Zell Kravinsky was the son of poor Russian-Jewish immigrants but ended up making a fortune through investing in real estate in Pennsylvania. After being inspired by the philanthropic work of John D. Rockefeller and Bill Gates, he began donating all his money and land to various charities in 2001. But that wasn’t quite enough for Zell. Just a few years later, he decided to give a kidney to a total stranger. His generosity became so extreme, that his family genuinely began to wonder if he was mentally ill.

Tom Shadyac might not be a name that you recognize, but you definitely know his work as the director of “Ace Ventura Pet Detective” and “The Nutty Professor”. Those hit films provided him with plenty of fame and fortune, but deep down he wasn’t happy. He began thinking about his own morality and decided that the only way to truly live happy was to live within your means and share your excess with those that are less-fortunate. So he sold his mansions and jets for a mobile home and a bike, and gave the rest away to charity. Then he revealed in an interview with Oprah that he has never been happier.

Frano Selak is the luckiest unlucky person to have ever lived. He escaped death several times including surviving a train wreck, a plane crash, a bus crash, being shot, and his own car blowing up. But it wasn’t all bad luck, because in 2003, only two days after his 73rd birthday, he bought his first lottery ticket in over 40 years, and he won. Frano decided that in 2010 he would give most of the money away to both relatives and charity. He then returned to Croatia where he was born to live a much simpler life.

Born in 1855, George Carroll grew up in Louisiana before moving to Texas with his family. His father created the family business of lumber companies until George himself became head of the company. From there, George expanded the business and his fortune, by investing in an oil drilling company which made him extremely wealthy.

Unfortunately, there was a side effect, as the oil boom pushed the local people into a life of vice and excess. Feeling responsible for this, George decided to use his entire fortune to combat what he had done to his town by donating millions to both his church and by founding a local Young Men's Christian Association. After doing all of this, he eventually died at the age of 80 in the exact YMCA building that he helped to build.