Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to donate his $124 billion fortune
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced his plans to donate most of his $124 billion net worth. He revealed that he is giving away most of his fortune to charities and to fight climate change.
Jeff Bezos, 58, also said he plans to help people who aim to heal social and political divisions. The funds will be dedicated to the aforementioned causes. Moreover, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he has a total net worth of $124 billion. With this net worth, he is the world’s second wealthiest next to Elon Musk, now Twitter’s new owner.
Although the business tycoon has received criticism before for not signing the Giving Pledge, he is now set to share his wealth. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet founded the campaign Giving Pledge. It aims to encourage the world’s richest and billionaires to give most of their wealth to rightful causes and charities.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says he plans to give most of his $124 billion fortune away
pic.twitter.com/MUbRVz7CRV— No Jumper (@nojumper) November 14, 2022
In an interview with CNN, business tycoon Jeff Bezos answered, “Yes, I do,” when the reporter asked him if he intends to give away most of his wealth within his lifetime. Alongside her philanthropist partner during the interview, he added, “The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way.”
The billionaire also said, “It’s not easy. Building Amazon was not easy. It took a lot of hard work, a bunch of very smart teammates, hard-working teammates, and I’m finding — and I think Lauren is finding the same thing — that charity, philanthropy, is very similar.”
Jeff Bezos claims he will give away most of his $124 billion to charity over his lifetime.
In 2020, Bezos reportedly got $75 billion richer and made over $140,000/minute.
Meanwhile, Amazon workers:
▪️ made as little as $15.30/hour
▪️ lost pandemic hazard pay after 3 months pic.twitter.com/NcHTg085pl— AJ+ (@ajplus) November 14, 2022
Jeff Bezos’ charitable endeavors
Last week at the start of the COP27 summit, there was an announcement that the Bezos Earth Fund had pledged an additional $1 billion by 2030. This donation will go to projects focusing on protecting biodiversity and carbon reserves. The huge amount will significantly add to the $9 billion funds dedicated to climate change.
This latest announcement of wealth donation followed after Bezos gave singer Dolly Parton $100 million. It was a prize for her “love and compassion in every aspect of her work.” Parton is also a philanthropist herself. She donated $1 million to the COVID vaccine development during the pandemic. In addition, she has already created several charities.
"Look at what she's done … She's a unifier."
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez are writing Dolly Parton a $100 million grant check to help her advance her own charity work. pic.twitter.com/x73ONOW7Up
— The Recount (@therecount) November 14, 2022
Furthermore, after stepping down as Amazon’s CEO last year, Jeff Bezos has a lot of time to pursue his passions. In addition, he still owns 10% of the online retail giant. His other business entities include space company Blur Origin and part owner of The Washington Post.
On a side note, Bezos has previously announced that Amazon aims to be carbon neutral by 2040 and 100% renewable by 2025. Amazon has also asked other huge companies to comply with a 2040 pledge. However, Amazon received criticisms before for its high levels of carbon emissions. It has increased every year since 2018.
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