DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm David Greene. If you'd met Jack MacDonald in Seattle, you might have assumed he lived a frugal life. He wore old sweaters, rode the bus, clipped coupons. He once got stoked about a sale on frozen orange juice. He bought so many cans, he needed a second freezer.

Well, friends and family knew MacDonald's secret. He had amassed a fortune on the stock market. He died at the age of 98, leaving nearly $200 million to charity; according to the Seattle Times, the largest philanthropic gift in Washington state this year.

It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.