Jeff Bezos Said He Will Give Away Most Of His Wealth
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said he will give away most of his wealth. It was the first time he had ever made a pledge like this, and he suggested in an interview on CNN that he would donate the majority of his money to charity during his lifetime. He is estimated to be worth $124 billion.
Author:Hajra ShannonReviewer:Paula M. GrahamNov 15, 20221.7K Shares81K Views
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said he will give away most of his wealth. It was the first time he had ever made a pledge like this, and he suggested in an interview on CNN that he would donate the majority of his money to charity during his lifetime. He is estimated to be worth $124 billion.
The Report
The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, declared that he would donate the majority of his wealth to charity, making him the most recent billionaire to make such a commitment.
As per Bloomberg, Mr. Bezos is the fourth-richest person in the world with a net worth of $124 billion. With his girlfriend, the former television host Lauren Sanchez, Mr. Bezos said they were getting ready "to be able to give away this money" in an interview with CNN that was made public on Monday.
He stated that he wanted to donate in a manner that would maximize the impact of the gifts. It's really difficult, he said. And there are a lot of ineffective things you could do, in his opinion.
It was the first time Mr. Bezos declared he would donate the majority of his wealth. As part of the Giving Pledge, a philanthropy movement that was started in 2010, more than 230 of the world's wealthiest people have committed to giving their money to charitable causes.
Many ultrawealthy Americans have donated significant portions of their fortunes, some at least as far back as the financier George Peabody in the 19th century.
The Gospel of Wealth, an influential work by Andrew Carnegie, famously stated that "the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced." Like Mr. Bezos at Amazon, Carnegie received a lot of flak for the working conditions at his business.
The New York Times reported on Monday that Amazon intends to make the largest job cuts in the history of the company by terminating about 10,000 employees working in corporate and technology positions as early as this week.
Bloomberg also stated that Mr. Bezos' wealth, which was over $200 billion as recently as last year, has decreased by tens of billions on paper because it is closely correlated with Amazon's share price, which has fallen along with other technology stocks this year.
The executive chairman of Amazon, Mr. Bezos, resigned from his position as CEO in 2021, citing a desire to "have the time and energy" to devote to his philanthropy and other interests. Along with The Washington Post, Mr. Bezos is the owner of his own space venture, Blue Origin.
As part of an annual gift known as the Bezos Award for Courage and Civility, Mr. Bezos and Ms. Sanchez announced a $100 million grant on Saturday for the singer and philanthropist Dolly Parton to direct to her chosen charitable causes.
Before Ms. Parton, $100 million prizes were presented by Mr. Bezos at a press conference following his trip in July 2021 aboard a rocket launched by Blue Origin. These prizes went to the chef José Andrés and the CNN commentator and activist Van Jones.
As part of the Bezos Earth Fund, Mr. Bezos promised to donate $10 billion by the year 2020 to fight global warming. At the climate summit in Glasgow last year, Mr. Bezos made a $2 billion commitment as part of that commitment to restore natural habitats and transform food systems.
Prior to this, Mr. Bezos gave $2 billion to start preschools and assist homeless families. Betrayal is more than just a surface offense to Paulina Porizkova. According to Stacy Palmer, editor of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Mr. Bezos did not provide much information in the CNN interview about how he would distribute his financial resources, but his prior actions may offer some hints.
Ms. Palmer said:
“„This is a giant statement, not just because of the amount of wealth he has, but because he might really have a ripple effect on what others choose to do.- Stacy Palmer
According to Maribel Morey, founding executive director of the Miami Institute for the Social Sciences and philanthropy expert, Mr. Bezos' comment about donating his fortune was "not a binding promise."
“„We run to make news of promises, but we actually don’t know if that’s going to materialize.- Maribel Morey
Bill Gates, a co-founder of Microsoft, and his then-wife, Melinda French Gates, made sizable contributions to their namesake foundation in 1999, ushering in a new era of billionaire philanthropy.
The well-known investor and their close friend Warren E. Buffett declared in 2006 that he would donate a sizeable portion of his Berkshire Hathaway stock, which was then valued at $31 billion, to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Final Words
The three then founded the Giving Pledge to promote greater altruism among the world's wealthiest individuals, whereby billionaires pledge to donate at least half of their fortunes.
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