Reuters- John Templeton, a pioneering mutual fund manager, global investor and billionaire philanthropist, died of pneumonia in a hospital in the Bahamas on Tuesday, a spokeswoman at his foundation said. He was 95.
Templeton, who started his career on Wall Street in 1937, created several successful international funds before selling Templeton Funds in 1992 to Franklin Resources for $440 million (223 million pounds) in what was then the largest acquisition of an independent mutual fund company.
He remained deeply involved in his business until he was nearly 80, when he shifted focus to philanthropy. "People keep noticing that I’m 79 years old, and ask me what would happen if I would die," he told Reuters in an interview in 1992 while negotiating the sale of his firm.
