Rich Old Man Pretends to Be Blind to Determine Who Will Inherit His Fortune — Story of the Day
An old philanthropist decides to test his grandchildren to decide who will inherit his money by pretending to be blind.
Franklin Garson started out as a small-time salesman back in the 50s, selling parts to oil drillers, but he ended up as one of the richest men in America, building oil rigs and pipelines.
After a while, making money lost its charm for Franklin Garson. He had everything he’d ever wanted and more money than he could spend in three lifetimes. And that was when discovered a new mission in life and a new passion: giving those billions away.
Franklin Garson decided that to get his grandchildren to reveal their true character he had to trick them | Source: Shutterstock.com
Franklin became one of the world’s most generous philanthropists, especially towards the homeless. His grandfather told him stories about being homeless during the Great Depression and he knew how vulnerable the dispossessed are.
Franklin turned 85 and he decided it was time to pass on the torch. Neither of his two sons had ever been interested either in the business or in his foundations, so he decided he’d choose one of his grandchildren to run the foundation.
He had two grandchildren — cousins, not siblings — Wesley, 23, and Gina, 24. Franklin loved and indulged his grandchildren but he was determined that they should make their own way in the world.
So even though Gina and Wesley were heirs to a billionaire, they didn’t have lots of money to splurge on status symbols or luxury cars. Franklin paid for their education, but he wanted them to know what it cost to earn a living.
Franklin Garson wanted to retire and leave his foundation in good hands | Source: Unsplash
Now Franklin had to choose which of the two would take over the foundation. Both were intelligent, and apparently kind and charming — but were they really? He had spent decades negotiating with wheeler-dealers and he knew people could be deceitful.
Was one of his grandchildren less than honest? There was no way either of them would drop the mask in front of him or was there? Franklin had an idea that turned into a cunning plan.
He phoned his grandson first. “Wesley my boy!” he said, “I need to see you. You know I’ve been thinking of retiring from the foundation, especially now, after this operation…”