A French lottery winner decided to invest most of his fortune to finance projects that would limit deforestation, revive biodiversity or support caregivers.
In December 2020, a French won the jackpot at a European lottery. With 200 million euros (218 million dollars) he became the largest prize winner of the game ever in France, until a young French Polynesian woman won 220 million euros late last year.
The man, identified as Guy but who wants to remain anonymous, has decided to spend almost all of his fortune on a fund dedicated to “protect life”, Le Parisien reports.
“Giving makes oneself happy”, the fund website said, and is “a great lever to transform indignation into concrete and useful actions”. “My dream has never been to acquire boats, castles or sports cars, it is to be useful and give meaning to this money, with maximum positive impact.”
Profitability will still be taken into account in the investment strategy but the projects would need to match the fund’s values.
The fund, created in April 2021, is called Anyama after the city in Ivory Coast he lived in for several years when he was young and where he saw trucks transporting timber from Burkina Faso’s forests.
The objectives of the fund are to finance projects in France that aim to preserve the environment from deforestation and revive forests, “regenerate biodiversity”, or support family caregivers of sick or disabled people.
