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George Lucas Is Giving All $4 Billion of His Disney Money to Charity


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From The Hollywood Reporter:

By the end of the year, the $4.05 billion sale of Lucasfilm to Disney should be finalized. And since George Lucas owns 100 percent of his company – which has little to no debt – all that money goes to him.
After that, Lucas plans to quickly put the bulk of the money into a foundation which will primarily focus on educational issues, a spokesperson for Lucasfilm tells THR.
“George Lucas has expressed his intention, in the event the deal closes, to donate the majority of the proceeds to his philanthropic endeavors.”
“For 41 years, the majority of my time and money has been put into the company,” Lucas said in a statement Wednesday. “As I start a new chapter in my life, it is gratifying that I have the opportunity to devote more time and resources to philanthropy.”
The spokesperson noted that this “announcement continues a commitment that Lucas made in 2010 to The Giving Pledge where he stated, “I am dedicating the majority of my wealth to improving education. It is the key to the survival of the human race. We have to plan for our collective future–and the first step begins with social, emotional, and intellectual tools we provide to our children. As humans, our greatest tool for survival is our ability to think and to adapt–as educators, storytellers, and communicators our responsibility is to continue to do so.'”
George… I’m so sorry. I’ve given you a hard time for the last decade or so, and now I’m truly sorry. With this incredible act of charity and kindness, you have earned a free pass for anything that might have upset me or other fans in the past. You want to not release the pre-Special Edition movies in HD? Fine. You want Greedo to shoot first? You got it. You want Episodes VII-IX to be about Jar Jar doing his laundry? …well, I’d prefer that not be the case, but if that’s what you want, you’ve earned it. When you first released Star Wars, you were a visionary. Now, you’re a hero.