NEW YORK — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos mentioned he’ll give away the vast majority of his wealth throughout his lifetime, changing into the newest billionaire to pledge to donate a lot of his huge fortune.
Bezos, whose “real-time” value Forbes journal estimates at roughly $124.1 billion, made the announcement in a joint CNN interview along with his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez that was launched on Monday. The billionaire didn’t specify how – or to whom – he’ll give away the cash, however mentioned the couple have been constructing the “capacity” to do it.
“The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way,” Bezos mentioned through the interview. “It’s not easy. Building Amazon was not easy. It took a lot of hard work and very smart teammates. And I’m finding – and Lauren’s finding – that philanthropy is very similar. It’s not easy. It’s really hard.”
Bezos had been criticized previously for not signing the Giving Pledge, the marketing campaign launched by Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffet to encourage billionaires to donate the vast majority of their wealth via philanthropy.
His ex-wife McKenzie Scott signed that pledge in 2019 and has since emerged as a formidable drive on this planet of philanthropy, showering charities all through the nation with surprising – and sometimes secretive – contributions. In the previous three years, she’s given greater than $12 billion to traditionally Black faculties and universities, ladies’s rights group and different nonprofits.
Scott on Monday introduced virtually $2 billion in donations to 343 organizations in a brief weblog put up, emphasizing her curiosity in supporting folks from underserved communities.
Bezos, who divorced from Scott in 2019, stepped down as Amazon CEO final yr to dedicate extra time to philanthropy and different tasks. Among different donations, he’s pledged $10 billion to combat local weather change as a part of his Bezos Earth Fund initiative. Last yr, he gave $510.7 million to charity, in keeping with The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
On Saturday, Bezos and Sanchez introduced they are going to give a no-strings-attached $100 million grant to singer Dolly Parton, who’s been praised for her philanthropic work that helped create the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19. Bezos had given the same grant to chef José Andrés and CNN commentator Van Jones final yr.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”