As he had dreamed, the French winner of the 200 million euros won in December 2020 at theEuroMillions will donate almost all of the sum to a foundation he created to help preserve the environment, according to information from the newspaper Le Parisien confirmed by AFP.
No sports cars, boats or castles for this lucky guy. For the winner of the second biggest jackpot in history, it will instead be a foundation dedicated to “the protection and revitalization of forests, the preservation and regeneration of biodiversity and support for family caregivers”as explained on the endowment fund website.
The foundation bears the name of Anyama, in reference to an Ivorian town located about ten kilometers from Abidjan, where he lived.
He was already planning two years ago to “create his own foundation”, “to inject several tens of millions into it” and “to make donations, in particular, to hospitals”. It is now done. “What matters are the actions supported by Anyama and the positive impact they generate for everyone”he argued with our colleagues from Parisian.
“I only played during important prize pools”
“For a single purpose: to devote the major part of this sum to the creation of a foundation”said the multimillionaire in an open letter available on the Anyama website.
In correspondence with The Parisianthe one that the Française des jeux (FDJ) nicknamed “Guy“, assured to have already “handed down most of” of his gain to his endowment fund since his victory in December 2020, and clarified that he would donate “gradually almost all” to this same foundation.
He explains that he intends to “continue to live peacefully, in the most total discretion”. He wished to preserve his anonymity.
No information about him is provided on the site of his foundation, which on the other hand highlights the identity of the experts from various backgrounds who work for Anyama.
“During my life, I have witnessed in Côte d’Ivoire the incessant passage of trucks loaded with cut trees in the forests of Burkina Faso. This ballet of trucks marked me a lot, indignant”said the generous donor in his open letter.
Asked by AFP, the FDJ described as “big first” a donation of such magnitude and the reasons that prompted the winner to play, emphasizing that he “It is not uncommon for winners to be generous, but what is a first is the proportion of the prize paid to a philanthropic cause”.
This jackpot of 200 million euros is the second biggest win ever won in France. The largest in history in France is that of 220 million euros, which was won almost a year later, in October 2021 by a Frenchman.
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