Amazon billionaire founder Jeff Bezos announced his intention to donate most of his fortune to charities, during an interview with CNN shown Monday.
Asked if he planned to donate most of his fortune while he was alive, Bezos replied, “Yes.”
This is the first time that the 58-year-old businessman has made a similar statement publicly. In his speech, Bezos did not mention “The Giving Pledge”, which is an initiative launched by Americans Warren Buffett and Bill Gates in 2010, and aims to encourage millionaires to donate more than half of their wealth to charities.
Jeff Bezos’ fortune is currently $124 billion, making him the fourth richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg.
0.0036 of the wealth of 400 billionaires is enough to solve the hunger crisis in the world.. Will they answer the call of the Executive Director of the World Food Program?#elon_musk #JeffBezos #Bill Gates pic.twitter.com/RoDsOWYGWi
– Al Jazeera Mubasher (@ajmubasher) October 28, 2021
Jeff Bezos also owns the “Washington Post” daily newspaper, the “Blue Origin” aerospace company, and the “Bezos Earth Fund” dedicated to the planet, which the billionaire launched in 2020 allocating $ 10 billion.
The businessman wants to ensure that his donations are used in the best possible way, and during the interview in which he appeared alongside his life partner Lauren Sanchez, he said, “We are strengthening the capabilities” needed to do this.
MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Bezos, who has an estimated fortune of $24 billion, had previously pledged to donate at least half of her fortune to charities by signing The Giving Pledge in 2019 shortly following her divorce.
In early 2021, Scott donated $6 billion to various organizations without imposing any conditions relating to her contribution.
