NORTHSHOREMAG.COM
80
OCTOBER 2022
I N
D E P T H
For years, Bill and Joyce Cummings
were undercover billionaires. They lived
well, but not large, maintaining their relatively
modest Winchester home (along with a
smallish condo in Florida), driving decade-
old cars, and flying economy class. When Bill,
PHOTOGRAPH
COURTESY OF THE CUMMINGS FOUNDATION,
BY ELISE SINAGRA OPPOSITE PAGE
ever frugal, said hello to his neighbors, he
would complain about the money he spent
keeping his yard maintained.
People generally knew that Bill did well
for himself as the founder, president, and
eventual chairman of Cummings Properties,
but most didn't suspect that he was one of
the wealthiest people in America. That all
changed around a decade ago, when he and
his wife signed onto The Giving Pledge, a
campaign started by Bill and Melinda Gates
and Warren Buffet that encourages the
ultrarich to donate more than half of their
wealth to charity.
Today, there's simply no hiding, now that
the couple has begun what Bill Cummings
calls the "great fun" of giving away their
fortune. "Rather than leaving it around for
somebody else who gets to give all the money
away, we thought, 'Well, why not start now,
Bill and Joyce Cummings have ded icated their lives to
donating their wealth to our communit y and beyond.
BY CALVIN HENNICK
GREAT GIVERS
Bill and Joyce Cummings of
the Cummings Foundation
