John Marks Templeton (1912–2008) was an American-born British investor, fund manager, and philanthropist. He was a pioneer of international investing and later devoted much of his fortune to scientific and religious causes. He created the investment fund manager Templeton, Galbraith & Hansberger Ltd (now part of Franklin Templeton Investments) and the John Templeton Foundation.
Born in Winchester, Tennessee, Templeton attended Yale University, supporting himself during the Depression, and got a Rhodes scholarship to study law in Balliol College at Oxford.
Templeton started his Wall Street career in 1938. When World War II began in Europe in 1939, he borrowed money to buy 100 shares each in 104 companies that were selling at one dollar per share or less, involving 34 companies that were in insolvency. Only four lost value and, the rest turned enormous profits.
Templeton entered the mutual fund industry in 1954 when he established the Templeton Growth Fund, one of the largest and most successful mutual funds in the world. In 1992, he sold the family of Templeton Funds to the Franklin Group to create the Franklin Templeton group. Templeton’s notable books on investing include Investing the Templeton Way (2007) and Buying at the Point of Maximum Pessimism (2010.)
Templeton was a pious Presbyterian and championed what he called a “humble approach” to theology. In 1972, he established the John Templeton Foundation, which supports research on many subjects, including complexity, evolution, forgiveness, and love. Templeton also founded the Templeton Prize (a £1,100,000 award) for Progress in Religion, the world’s largest annual award given to an individual in recognition of exemplary achievement in discoveries regarding the “affirming life’s spiritual dimension.”
Templeton’s best-selling books include The Humble Approach: Scientists Discover God (1981,) Discovering the Laws of Life (1994,) and Riches for the Mind and Spirit (2006.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by John Templeton
High ethics and religious principles form the basis for success and happiness in every area of life
—John Templeton
Topics: Principles
If we become increasingly humble about how little we know, we may be more eager to search.
—John Templeton
Happiness comes from spiritual wealth, not material wealth… Happiness comes from giving, not getting. If we try hard to bring happiness to others, we cannot stop it from coming to us also. To get joy, we must give it, and to keep joy, we must scatter it.
—John Templeton
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