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Boston: John Templeton, a pioneering mutual fund manager, global investor and billionaire philanthropist, died of pneumonia in a hospital in the Bahamas on Tuesday, a spokeswoman at his foundation said. He was 95.
Templeton, who started his career on Wall Street in 1937, created several successful international funds before selling the Templeton Funds in 1992 to Franklin Resources for $440 million in what was then the largest acquisition of an independent mutual fund company.
He remained deeply involved in his business until he was nearly 80.
"People keep noticing that I'm 79 years old, and ask me what would happen if I would die," he told Reuters in an interview in 1992 while negotiating the sale of his firm.
"I have to take that into account," he said.
He died at 12:20 a.m. after being admitted about a week ago to Doctors Hospital in Nassau, said John Templeton Foundation spokeswoman Pamela Thompson.
He was knighted by Britain's Queen Elizabeth in 1987 for his philanthropic accomplishments. He is survived by two sons, Christopher and Jack.
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