Originally published 2018-12-26.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star Chow Yun-fat, 63 years old, is planning on donating his $714 million fortune to charity.
“My dream is to be a happy and normal person,” he said. “The hardest thing in life is not about how much money you earn, but how to keep a peaceful mindset and live the rest of your life in a simple and carefree manner.”
The actor had previously claimed that he only spent approximately $102 a month on himself. He was accustomed to using the same Nokia phone for more than 17 years until he finally got a smartphone two years ago, yet that was only because the Nokia stopped working.
He has also been spotted shopping at discount stores.
“I don’t wear clothes for other people,” Chow told Jayne Stars. “As long as I think it’s comfortable, then it’s good enough for me.”
When it comes to his reason for giving away his amassed fortune, Chow said, “The money’s not mine. I’m only keeping it safe for the time being.”
In China, Chow is famous for his work in John Woo movies like A Better Tomorrow, The Killer and Hard Boiled. American audiences may know him best as Li Mu Bai in Ang Lee’s 2000 movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
There are a few celebrities with genuinely golden hearts. These people make the world a little brighter place to live in.
A stated intention is not a completed transfer
The account reports Chow's comments about a future gift and an estimated fortune. It does not establish that the entire amount was donated at the time or verify a current net worth. Keeping intention, estimate and outcome separate allows his reflections on simplicity to be read without overstating what the report documents.
The useful question is about enough
His comments on comfortable clothes and familiar possessions invite reflection on what a purchase is meant to provide. You do not need a celebrity's resources to ask whether replacing something would improve its actual use or mainly change how it appears to others. The story can inspire a more deliberate relationship with possessions without pretending that modest spending alone explains an entire life.
The pledge and what he said later
Chow made the pledge in an interview broadcast by South Korea’s MBC in December 2018; the fortune was reported at HK$5.6 billion (about US$715 million), to be given away after his death. “This money isn’t something you possess forever,” he said, adding that you cannot take the money in your bank account with you when you die. His wife, Jasmine Tan, said she strongly supported the decision. A native of Lamma Island, once a fishing village, he eats at street stalls, takes public transport and says he does not know how much he is worth. At a press conference during the Busan International Film Festival in October 2023 he said that it was his wife, not he, who had donated the money, that he now lived on pocket money, and that he did not know exactly how much had been given.
Sources: Hong Kong Free Press/AFP, 24 December 2018: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star Chow Yun-fat vows to donate HK$5.6bn fortune TenAsia, November 2023: Chow Yun-fat at the Busan International Film Festival
He should set up 100 permiculture food forests all around the world even at schools ,instead of giving it to reseach . People will have jobs, education, self sustainably and better health because of it.
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