Sir John Templeton is Dead at 95

Financial Giant Leaves Legacy of Philanthropy, Creativity and Religious Promotion

Sir John Templeton has died at age 95. Where do you begin to write about such a man? John Templeton was bigger than life when it came to his Wall Street history. His Templeton Growth Fund boasted an annual growth of 16 percent per annum and was the fastest growing fund during the last half of the 20th century. One didn't see magic in his approach to the stock market, but you could see what had been part of his entire life; a willingness to walk his own path.

While the rest of the country was investing in United States businesses, Templeton looked at the entire world picture and through diligent research became incredibly successful. In fact, he was one of the first to invest in post-war Japan.

However, discussing just his financial successes doesn't do justice to the man. He was devoutly religious and as a result developed a following that was inspired to save their money. He began business meetings with prayer; he saw his business practices as a ministry and felt that you had to do things the "right way."

One very significant accomplishment that Templeton was responsible for was the Templeton Prize for Progress established in 1973. It was designed to add the category of "Religion" to achievement; something that the Nobel Foundation had decided to omit. Through his brilliant publicity work, Templeton guaranteed that his fund would always out-perform the Nobel Prize and, it has.

Winners of the Templeton prize for Progress have been Mother Theresa, Billy Graham, Charles Colson and Alexander Solzhenitzyn. Of interest to me was that despite his conservative Presbyterian upbringing the prize is open to Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus. His motto has always been "The more we give away the more we have".

Looking at Templeton as a successful financial giant is one thing but to take a look at his youth is to get an even more exciting and encouraging story.