Celebrity3 min(s) read
Published 15:15 23 Nov 2022 GMT
It sure does suck to be a billionaire. At least, that's how Jeff Bezos portrayed it when he revealed that trying to give away most of his $124 billion fortune is "very hard."
The 58-year-old Amazon founder revealed exclusively to CNN that, for the first time, he is pledging to donate most of his $124 billion fortune.
This has come as news to Bezos' critics who have blasted him for not signing the Giving Pledge, a promise by the world's wealthiest families and individuals to dedicate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes. At the time of writing, the pledge has 236 signatories, with Bezos still not one of them.
In fact, the billionaire was listed on this year's Forbes Philanthropy Score, a rating of one to five given by Forbes to 400 of the world's ultra-wealthy. Bill and Melinda Gates were given the highest score of five - having donated more than 20% of their fortunes - while Bezos sat at two after it was calculated that, so far, he's donated less than 4.99% of his. Musk, however, was given a score of one, having bid farewell to less than just 1%...
Now, it appears Bezos aims to change that, telling CNN that he plans to give away the majority of his wealth to people and charities that unify humanity and aim to heal social and political divides.
Both Bezos and his partner Lauren Sanchez said to the outlet that they have been trying to build "the capacity to be able to give away this money."
"The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way. It's not easy, building Amazon was not easy. It took a lot of hard work, a bunch of very smart teammates and I'm finding that philanthropy is very similar - it's not easy it's very hard," the father-of-one explained.
"We are building the capacity to being able to give away this money. There are a bunch of ways that I think you could do ineffective things, too. So you have to think about it carefully and you have to have brilliant people on the team," he added.
Recently, Bezos began his philanthropic efforts by giving a $100 million grant to country music legend Dolly Parton so she can continue her decades-long commitment to philanthropic work.
The grant was part of Bezos' and Sanchez's new Bezos Courage and Civility Award, which provides grants to individuals who then get to choose which non-profit organizations they will donate the funds to. Each recipient gets a 10-year window in which the donation must be distributed.
Hopefully by this time next year Bezos is able to get a slightly better philanthropy score from Forbes... But it seems he still has a long way to go.
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world3 min(s) read
Published 16:38 14 Nov 2022 GMT
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has announced that he will give away the majority of his $124 billion fortune.
The 58-year-old has revealed that he will be donating the money to charities fighting climate change, but was quick to add that philanthropy is "very hard", CNN reports.
Sitting alongside his partner Lauren Sanchez, the fourth wealthiest person in the world stated that he wants to support people who can unify humanity whilst healing social and political divisions.
The businessman did not give any specifics as to how the money will be donated, but said they are: "Building the capacity to be able to give away this money".
He continued: "The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way. It's not easy, building Amazon was not easy.
"It took a lot of hard work, a bunch of very smart teammates and I'm finding that philanthropy is very similar – it's not easy it's very hard.
"We are building the capacity to being able to give away this money. There are a bunch of ways that I think you could do ineffective things, too".
The billionaire has already started to give away large sums of money to those he deems able to 'unify' humanity. Singer-songwriter Dolly Parton was recently on the receiving end of a $100 million grant.
The tycoon explained that the legendary singer has been given the money for her "love and compassion in work".
Check out the touching moment below:He went on: "Look at what she's done and how she's led her life. The way she's done it is by doing bold things, always with civility and kindness.
"She's a unifier, we have big problems in the world and the way big problems are dealt with is you have to work together".
The country music star is not the only one who has been given a large sum of money. CNN's Van Jones and celebrity chef Jose Andres have also received $100 million each.
Both men were on hand to collect their donation whilst in attendance at Bezos' space launch press conference. The Amazon creator told both men they can donate the money to whatever charities they like, including their own.
The CNN political contributor is a founder of Dream Corps which is a nonprofit for criminal justice reform, whilst the Spanish chef founded World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit which provides meals after natural disasters.
It is yet to be revealed how the rest of the fortune will be donated, but that amount of money could have a significant impact on the fight against climate change.
world1 min(s) read
Published 22:43 28 May 2019 GMT
MacKenzie Bezos, the ex-wife of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, has promised to give half of her $36 billion fortune to charity.
After divorcing Bezos last year and gaining four per cent of the company in the settlement, MacKenzie has now joined the Giving Pledge - an initiative started by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, asking for the world's wealthiest people to give half or more of their wealth away to charity.
Check out this inspiring speech from Jeff Bezos below:
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In a statement made on Saturday as part of the Giving Pledge, MacKenzie said: "I have no doubt that tremendous value comes when people act quickly on the impulse to give:
"We each come by the gifts we have to offer by an infinite series of influences and lucky breaks we can never fully understand. In addition to whatever assets life has nurtured in me, I have a disproportionate amount of money to share. My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful. It will take time and effort and care. But I won’t wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty."
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Bezos himself was supportive of his former spouse's decision and took to Twitter to state: "MacKenzie is going to be amazing and thoughtful and effective at philanthropy, and I’m proud of her. Her letter is so beautiful. Go get ‘em MacKenzie."
Thus far, the pledge has been signed by 204 individuals, couples and families from 23 countries around the world. Signatories include Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Bloomberg, Ted Turner, and Richard Branson.
celebrity1 min(s) read
Published 16:54 18 Feb 2020 GMT
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, the wealthiest person on the planet, has pledged $10 billion to help fight climate change. He made the pledge on Monday via an Instagram post on his official account, referring to climate change as the “biggest threat to our planet.”
In the caption for the post, he explained that he was launching the Bezos Earth Fund, a global initiative to help fund scientists, activists, and NGOs in combating the ongoing destruction of our planet.
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The multi-billionaire wrote:
"Today, I’m thrilled to announce I am launching the Bezos Earth Fund.
Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet. I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share. This global initiative will fund scientists, activists, NGOs — any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world. We can save Earth. It’s going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organizations, and individuals.
I’m committing $10 billion to start and will begin issuing grants this summer. Earth is the one thing we all have in common — let’s protect it, together."
This past September, Amazon's Climate Pledge was unveiled, revealing a commitment to meet the international Paris Agreement's goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2040, a whole decade earlier than was agreed by most countries.
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Part of the company's plan in achieving this is an order for 100,000 new electric delivery vehicles and a $100 million investment in reforestation projects worldwide.
The project will be funded by $10 billion of Bezos' personal wealth. This amount constitutes less than 8% of his net worth, which is at $129.9 billion as of Monday, according to Forbes.
Relive the moment Chris Rock and Steve Martin brutally slam Jeff Bezos in the opening monologue at the Oscars:
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The new initiative comes as the technology and e-commerce giant faces scrutiny both internally and externally as its own employees take issue with its role in global warming.
In fact, not all of Amazon's employees felt the new measures were sufficient.
“We applaud Jeff Bezos’ philanthropy, but one hand cannot give what the other is taking away,” Amazon Employees for Climate Justice said in a statement on Monday. “The people of Earth need to know: When is Amazon going to stop helping oil & gas companies ravage Earth with still more oil and gas wells? When is Amazon going to stop funding climate-denying think tanks like the Competitive Enterprise Institute and climate-delaying policy?”
In a statement emailed to GeekWire, an Amazon spokesperson said of the company and its CEO:
“Amazon took a bold step when it announced the Climate Pledge, committing the company to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement ten years early, and we’re incredibly excited about the Bezos Earth Fund. Jeff’s passion and this extraordinary personal contribution to the fight against climate change are going to have a huge impact.”
world0 min(s) read
Published 16:40 17 Nov 2020 GMT
Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of e-commerce giant Amazon, has made the first donations as part of his Bezos Earth Fund, which aims to donate $10 billion to help fight against climate change.
Bezos is not only the world's wealthiest man, but also the world's first person to become worth more than $200 billion, per Forbes.
In an Instagram post from yesterday (November 16), he wrote: "I've spent the past several months learning from a group of incredibly smart people who've made it their life's work to fight climate change and its impact on communities around the world.
"I'm inspired by what they're doing, and excited to help them scale. Today, I'm pleased to announce the first Bezos Earth Fund recipients - 16 organizations working on innovative, ambitious, and needle-moving solutions.
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Bezos continued: "This $791 million in donations is just the beginning of my $10 billion commitment to fund scientists, activists, NGOs, and others. We can all protect Earth's future by taking bold action now."
Bezos then listed the grantees of the generous donation, found below:
The Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund
ClimateWorks Foundation
Dream Corps Green For All
Eden Reforestation Projects
Energy Foundation
Environmental Defense Fund
The Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice
Natural Resources Defense Council
The Nature Conservancy
NDN Collective
Rocky Mountain Institute
Salk Institute for Biological Studies
The Solutions Project
Union of Concerned Scientists
World Resources Institute
World Wildlife Fund.
The Amazon founder announced the $10 billion initiative earlier this year.
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Taking to Instagram in February, Bezos wrote: "Today, I’m thrilled to announce I am launching the Bezos Earth Fund.
"Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet. I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share.
"This global initiative will fund scientists, activists, NGOs — any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world."
[[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/CB3gnA5H-K_/]]
He added: "We can save Earth. It’s going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organizations, and individuals.
"I’m committing $10 billion to start and will begin issuing grants this summer. Earth is the one thing we all have in common — let’s protect it, together."
Chris Rock and Steve Martin hilariously roast Amazon's Jeff Bezos in the Oscars opening monologue:
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celebrity2 min(s) read
Published 16:35 08 Jan 2021 GMT
Elon Musk has appealed to the public for ways to donate his vast fortune after officially becoming the richest man in the world.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has just overtaken Amazon's Jeff Bezos, with a net worth of $188 billion (£138 billion), according to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index.
Take a look at this video of Elon Musk holding a tiny baby:This makes the billionaire the richest person in the world, and now Musk has asked the internet for inspiration about how he can put his huge estate to good use.
In a tweet addressed to his 41.6 million followers on Twitter, Musk wrote:
"Btw, critical feedback is always super appreciated, as well as ways to donate money that really make a difference (way harder than it seems) [sic]"
The post quickly went viral on social media, accruing over 7,00 retweets, and more than 151,000 likes from other Twitter users. Not only that, but Musk's post was quickly inundated with comments and suggestions.
Some Twitter users sincerely shared organizations that they thought would benefit from Musk's support:
...While others gave more tongue-in-cheek answers instead:
Meanwhile, Bezos himself has pledged to donate $10 billion (£7.6 billion) to help stop climate change and save the planet. In a lengthy Instagram post Bezos wrote:
"I've spent the past several months learning from a group of incredibly smart people who've made it their life's work to fight climate change and its impact on communities around the world.
"I'm inspired by what they’re doing, and excited to help them scale. Today, I'm pleased to announce the first Bezos Earth Fund recipients - 16 organizations working on innovative, ambitious, and needle-moving solutions."
He added: "This $791 million in donations is just the beginning of my $10 billion commitment to fund scientists, activists, NGOs, and others. We can all protect Earth’s future by taking bold action now."
Bezos then stated that he intended on giving money to The Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund, ClimateWorks Foundation, Dream Corps Green For All, Eden Reforestation Projects, Energy Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund, and The Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice, among many others.
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