Billionare's club

Last night I went to a Q&A with Denis O'Brien, founder and majority owner of Digicel:

"Digicel Group is a leading global communications provider with operations in 33 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and Asia Pacific. After 13 years of operation, total investment to date stands at over US$5 billion worldwide."

O'Brien is a controversial figure because he is suspected of making his first fortune (on an Irish telecom company) by bribing a government official. Nothing was proven conclusively and he denies the allegations.

He's a hero to many people, myself included, because of his philanthropic largesse. He's built 150 schools in Haiti and brought teachers from Ireland to teach the teachers, who weren't educated themselves. I heard a lot of good things about Digicel when I was in Haiti. It's the largest employer and its building was the only major commercial building to survive the earthquake.

He hosted the first Special Olympics outside the United States--a hugely successful event in Ireland in 2003. He remains heavily involved in rebuilding Haiti. He's a good buddy of President Clinton, another champion of Haiti.

During the talk, he explained that it is immoral to go into a country, make a profit, and not use part of that profit to improve the stardard of living in the host country. He said he thinks that sentiment is part of the Irish national character. He recalled that, growing up in Cork, there was a woman up the street who spent most of her adult life in India working with lepers. Indeed, I heard an Ulster woman on the radio last week who was just back from the Congo. Irish people are legendary in their commitment to helping the most destitute people on earth. The Congo health worker, who was nearly killed in January, can't wait to go back.

Dream job? Working in Digicel's Haiti foundation.
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