Jeff Bezos says he will donate majority of his $124 BILLION lifetime fortune to climate change charities – after handing $100 million to Dolly Parton for her “love and compassion at work “
- Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has pledged to donate most of his fortune to charities
- Previously, he had been criticized for not signing the Giving Pledge, made up of hundreds of the world’s wealthiest people.
- He announced that he wanted to support people who can unite humanity and heal deep social and political divisions.
- The fourth richest person in the world declined to say exactly how much he would give or where it would likely be spent
Jeff Bezos has announced he will donate most of his $124bn fortune to charities fighting climate change – adding that philanthropy is “very difficult”.
The Amazon founder said he wants to support people who can unite humanity and heal deep social and political divides.
The mogul gave no details on the exact charities he will donate to or how much he will donate to or when during an interview with CNN.
Sitting alongside his partner Lauren Sanchez, the businessman said they were “building the capacity to be able to give that money away”.
Bezos has confirmed he will donated most of his wealth over his lifetime, saying, “The hardest part is figuring out how to do it with leverage. It’s not easy, building Amazon hasn’t been easy.
“It took a lot of hard work, a very smart group of teammates and I find philanthropy to be very similar – it’s not easy, it’s very difficult.
“We are building the capacity to be able to give that money away. There are a bunch of ways I think you could do inefficient things too.
“So you have to think about it carefully and you have to have brilliant people in the team.”
The Amazon founder said Monday morning he wanted to distribute the huge sum through the Bezos Courage & Civility Award
The tycoon also revealed he presented singer Dolly Parton with a $100 million award for her “love and compassion at work”.
Previously, Bezos had been criticized for not signing the Giving Pledge, which is made up of hundreds of the world’s wealthiest people to donate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes.
The fourth richest person in the world declined to say exactly how much he would give away or where it would likely be spent.
He refrained from setting a target amount to give away over his lifetime and committed $10 billion over 10 years, or about 8% of his current net worth, to the Bezos Earth Fund.
Bezos also explained why he gave $100 million to Dolly Parton for her “love and compassion at work.”
He said, “Look what she did and how she lived her life. The way she did it is by doing bold things, always with civility and kindness.
“She’s a unifier, we have big problems in the world and the big problems are solved is that you have to work together.”
The mogul gave no details on the exact charities he will donate to or how much he will donate to or when during an interview
“I’ve always said, I try to put my money where my heart is,” the country music legend said as he accepted his award. “I will do my best to do good things with this money”
The Jolene Singer Foundation – Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library – has put books in the hands of one in 10 children in the United States. It also serves the UK, Ireland, Australia and Canada.
Sanchez added, “When you think of Dolly, everyone smiles. All she wants is to bring light into other people’s worlds.
“That’s it, and so we couldn’t have thought of anyone better than to present this award.”
His approach is radically different from that of his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, who gave nearly $4 billion to 465 organizations in less than a year.
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