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The title character, Teddy Rist (portrayed by James Purefoy), is a billionaire playboy haunted by the death of his only child. His life changes when he rescues a young boy during a hurricane in Nigeria. As a result, Rist begins using his fortune to personally change the lives of others.[4] The Philanthropist is based loosely on the life of Bobby Sager.[5] The Philanthropist is an American action drama series that premiered on NBC on Wednesday, June 24, 2009. The program was a limited summer series, principally filmed in South Africa. It opened to strong ratings, but saw a drop in viewers in subsequent weeks. The Philanthropist is a Carnival Films production in association with The Levinson/Fontana Company and Original Media. Tom Fontana, Barry Levinson, Peter Horton, Charlie Corwin, Gareth Neame, and Teri Weinberg served as executive producers.
A wealthy philanthropist's life is changed when a hurricane hits the Nigerian town he was visiting. During the storm the billionaire rescues a young boy. These events lead him to pursue his new found passion for helping those in need.
Teddy visits Myanmar to ask for guidance from a local leader after his company is accused of forced labor.
Olivia is reunited with an old friend who is caught in a sex-trafficking ring on a visit to Paris. Teddy does everything in his power to save the helpless young women.
Teddy heads to Kujama, Nigeria, to help rescue his old friend, Doctor Chima Balo. Balo was kidnapped because the local rebels didn't like Teddy and his oil refinery doing good for their town. Back at home, Philip helps an old acquaintance keep his head above water after being laid off from work.
Teddy meets his ex-wife Julia and tells her about his journey to Kosovo where he tried to get Serbians and Albanians to work together, but learned that the hatred runs deep.
Teddy and Dax travel to San Diego and try to find the thief who stole Teddy's identity. In the meantime, Olivia and Philip find out that Maidstone Rist is in trouble.
When Teddy tries to close a deal with the Indian and Pakistani governments to rebuild a water system in Kashmir, he disappears on his mission.
Food shortage leads Teddy and Philip to Haiti where they try to help, but Philip's estranged brother, a powerful island senator named Jean Beauvais, interferes.
