On the Bright Side

      John Templeton may best be known as a pioneer in the financial industry. He became a billionaire after establishing Templeton Growth Fund, one of the first modern mutual fund companies in the world. But what is even more remarkable about him is his philanthropy, which fueled his work from the beginning and continued throughout his career. John Templeton established an annual gift to be awarded to living individuals who “make an exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension.” The first Templeton Prize was awarded to Mother Teresa in 1973. So, while he was named the “greatest global stock picker of the century” by Money Magazine in 1999, it is reaffirming to know that, for John Templeton, who could easily have been another Wolf of Wall Street, being nice was more important. As much as we’d like to, we can’t all be billionaires shaving off extra millions for Mother Teresa and the Dali Lama, but we can honor each other in small ways a million ti...