Just last July, Bill Gates he announced that he intended to donate his entire fortune to charity before he died. Now the billionaire Jeff Bezosfollows his philanthropic lead and has announced that he will donate the majority of his estate to charity.
The 58-year-old tycoon and his girlfriend, the journalist Lauren Sanchezrevealed their generous plans by indulging them first couple interview since they started dating in 2019.
During the interview with CnnThe tycoon was asked if he intends to give away most of his wealth during his lifetime. The founder of Amazonia simply said: “Yes, it is”. The 52-year-old businesswoman added that they are “build the capacity to be able to donate this money”.
Right now, Jeff Bezos is the fourth richest person in the world, with a estimated fortune of 122,000 million dollarsIn his opinion index of billionaires from Bloomberg.
The entrepreneur has been at the top of the list for at least 6 consecutive years, but in October 2021 he was ousted from second place by Elon Musk. It was also surpassed by the French Bernard Arnaultwhich takes second place, and the Indian Gautama Adani, in the third. However, it still surpasses Bill Gateswhich is in fifth place with a difference of ‘only’ 10,000 million dollars.
The Amazon founder has said he will donate some of his wealth, but not how much or when
For the owner of Blue originPhilanthropy is an almost unheard of field, as it is one of the few ultra wealthy that is not known for big charities. Indeed, it is the first time that she has announced her intention to part with part of his money.
Apparently, the change would be part of a strategy devised by the Mexican-born journalist to make Jeff’s image more positive through charity work and, therefore, “position himself as a some new Bill and Melinda Gates“, indicate.
Bezos has been heavily criticized for not signing the To pledgean initiative by Bill Gates, his ex-wife Melinda French and also the billionaire Warren Buffett. The campaign calls on hundreds of the world’s wealthiest people to pledge to donate a large proportion of their wealth to social, scientific, environmental and other causes.
Therefore, now the Amazon founder is carefully studying his movements. He even likened his philanthropic planning to building the e-commerce giant.
“The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a leveraged way,” Jeff Bezos acknowledged in the interview, referring to yield maximization. “It’s not easy. Building Amazon hasn’t been easy. It took a lot of hard work, a lot of very smart and hardworking teammates. I’m discovering – and I think Lauren is discovering the same thing – that charity and philanthropy are very similar. It’s very difficult… So you have to think about it,” he added.
In addition to this, the tycoon did not specify which foundations or causes his “living legacy” will go to. However, he anticipated that he would begin by focusing on areas such as tackling climate change and “supporting people who can unite humanity in the face of deep social and political divisions,” the outlet quoted.
Jeff Bezos has already started handing out money
One of his intentions when he resigned as Amazon CEOin July 2021, he was set to pursue more space travel and philanthropy.
The entrepreneur has announced the donation of 10,000 million dollars to fight the climate change through its foundation, Bezos Earth Fundof which he is executive president while his girlfriend is vice president.
The couple also announced the delivery of the Bezos Award for Courage and Civilityawarded this year to the country music star and philanthropist Dolly Parton. The award is accompanied by a contribution from 100 million dollars to support various causes.
“We couldn’t have thought of someone better than Dolly to give her this award. We know she will do amazing things with him,” Lauren Sánchez said in the interview.
Recently, Bezos’ billionaire ex-wife, Mackenzie Scott, donated two mansions worth $55 million in Beverly Hills. He is estimated to have given nearly $4 billion to 465 organizations in less than a year.
Publishing group The editorial staff of EMPRENDEDOR.com, which has been working to promote entrepreneurship for more than 27 years.
