As the fourth richest man on earth, Jeff Bezos pledged to give away most of his 124 billion dollar fortune in an interview with CNN alongside Lauren Sanchez, his partner.
In the conversation with CNN’s Chloe Melas, he plans on donating his money to charities that unify humanity and help with social causes. “The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way,” Jeff said to CNN. In addition, he had committed to donating ten billion dollars for climate change in 2020 through the Bezos Earth Fund, for which he is the executive chair. He donated 941 million dollars by October 2021 for the same. His donation statement might have been a result of the latest criticism received over his carbon footprint and some exotic purchases, which harm the environment, and also his private jet that was a part of the numerous polluters that arrived in Glasgow in 2021 for the COP26 conference.
Prior to this, Bezos kickstarted his philanthropic endeavor by donating to Country Music star and Philanthropist Dolly Parton through the “Bezos courage and civility award” an honor recognizing leaders who "pursue solutions with courage and civility”. Bezos said, “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.” Sanchez added, “When you think of Dolly, everyone smiles. All she wants to do is bring light into other people's world. That's all, and so we couldn't have thought of someone better to give this award to.”
In his statement regarding the donation, Jeff Bezos did not mention specific details or a specific timeline or amount. Unlike some of his billionaire associates, including his ex-wife MacKenzie Scott, Bezos had not officially signed on to the Giving Pledge, started by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet which encourages high net-worth individuals to commit to giving away more than half their wealth.
