John M. Templeton, a Tennessee-born investor and philanthropist who amassed a fortune as a pioneer in global mutual funds, then gave away hundreds of millions of dollars to foster understanding of what he called \u201cspiritual realities,\u201d\u009d died on Tuesday in Nassau, the Bahamas, where he had lived for decades. He was 95.<\/p>\n
His death, at Doctors Hospital, was caused by pneumonia, said Donald Lehr, a spokesman for the John Templeton Foundation.<\/p>\n
The foundation awards the Templeton Prize, one of the world\u2019s richest, and sponsors conferences and studies reflecting the founder\u2019s passionate interest in \u201cprogress in religion\u201d\u009d and \u201cresearch or discoveries\u201d\u009d on the nebulous borders of science and religion.<\/p>\n
In a career that spanned seven decades, Mr. Templeton dazzled Wall Street, organized some of the most successful mutual funds of his time, led investors into foreign markets, established charities that now give away $70 million a year, wrote books on finance and spirituality and promoted a search for answers to what he called the \u201cBig Questions\u201d\u009d in the realms of science, faith, God and the purpose of humanity.<\/p>\n