John Templeton was an American businessman, philanthropist and founder of the Templeton Foundation. In 1954, Templeton started the Templeton Growth Fund that has since become the largest equity fund in the world. Templeton died of pneumonia in a Bahamian hospital on July 8, 2008.

In 1968, Templeton renounced his United States citizenship in order to avoid paying income and estate taxes. Templeton became a citizen of the United Kingdom, and took residence in the Bahamas in the 1980's. Without the burden of having to pay U.S. taxes on his Wall Street investments, Templeton soon became a billionaire.