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Supermarket chain founder Albert Gubay has pledged most of his £470 million ($740 million) fortune to a new foundation in Britain, the Sunday Times reports.

The gift fulfills a promise the 82-year-old Gubay made as a young man to give half his fortune to the Catholic church if he became wealthy. Gubay, who will continue running his companies and reinvesting the profits, has directed that upon his death the Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation receive an annual income from the businesses, estimated to be £20 million per year. According to the Times, the foundation will allocate half its income to projects connected with the Roman Catholic Church, with the rest to be distributed at the discretion of the trustees.

In 1965, Gubay opened the first Kwik Save supermarket. Eight years later, he sold the company for £14m and moved his money into real estate while establishing Kwik Save stores in New Zealand and Ireland. Gubay also created the Total Fitness gym chain, which he sold in 2004 for £70 million.

“Albert is a very frugal man and has dedicated his life to good causes,” said John Nugent, chair of the Gubay Charitable Foundation. “His priority now is to maximize the asset base of the company. He is confident he can push the worth to £1 billion before he dies,” added Nugent. “With these arrangements he is keeping to the [pledge he made as a young man] and going well beyond it.”