{"id":8322,"date":"2022-11-21T09:47:45","date_gmt":"2022-11-21T14:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=8322"},"modified":"2022-11-21T09:47:45","modified_gmt":"2022-11-21T14:47:45","slug":"amazon-founder-jeff-bezos-pledges-to-give-away-most-of-his-123b-fortune-to-charity-in-his-lifetime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2022\/11\/amazon-founder-jeff-bezos-pledges-to-give-away-most-of-his-123b-fortune-to-charity-in-his-lifetime.html","title":{"rendered":"Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos Pledges to Give Away Most of His $123B Fortune to Charity in His Lifetime"},"content":{"rendered":"

After years of being among the world\u2019s billionaires and the only one among the top five not to\u00a0publicly pledge<\/a>\u00a0to give away more than half of his wealth in his lifetime or his will, Amazon founder and the world\u2019s\u00a0fourth richest person<\/a>, Jeff Bezos, said he plans on giving away the majority of his $123 billion fortune while he\u2019s alive. \u201cYeah, I do,\u201d Bezos\u00a0told CNN<\/a> when asked if he planned to give away most of his wealth.<\/p>\n

Bezos\u2019s girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, vice chair of the\u00a0Bezos Earth Fund<\/a>, said they are currently \u201cbuilding the capacity to be able to give away this money.\u201d The latest Bezos Courage and Civility Award recipient was country music legend Dolly Parton, who received a $100 million grant to use however she chooses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you think of Dolly, look, everyone smiles, right?\u201d Sanchez told CNN. \u201cShe is just beaming with light. And all she wants to do is bring light into other people\u2019s worlds. And so, we couldn\u2019t have thought of someone better than to give this award to Dolly, and we know she\u2019s going to do amazing things with it.\u201d Parton responded to the award\u00a0on Twitter<\/a>, adding: \u201cI will do my best to do good things with this money.\u201d<\/p>\n

In August 2010, billionaires Warren Buffett, Melinda French Gates, and Bill Gates created a movement called\u00a0The Giving Pledge<\/a>\u00a0in which 40 of America\u2019s wealthiest people committed to giving the majority of their wealth to address some of society\u2019s most pressing problems.<\/p>\n

The pledge has since been signed by several\u00a0ultra-wealthy business leaders\u00a0worldwide, including Bezos\u2019 ex-wife MacKenzie Scott. She has already given away\u00a0$14.4 billion to nonprofits<\/a>. She is worth almost $30 billion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe each have gifts we have to offer by an infinite series of influences and lucky breaks we can never fully understand,\u201d she wrote in her\u00a02019 pledge letter<\/a>. \u201cIn 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\u2019t wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty.\u201d Reacting to the Amazon founder\u2019s announcement, Stacy Palmer, editor of The Chronicle of Philanthropy,\u00a0told The New York Times<\/a>\u00a0that it was a \u201cgiant statement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"jeff<\/a>
Seattle City Council\/Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis is a giant statement, not just because of the amount of wealth he has, but because he might really have a ripple effect on what others choose to do,\u201d Palmer said. Bezos\u2019 announcement on Saturday was overshadowed in part by information\u00a0reported on Monday<\/a>\u00a0that Amazon will lay off some 10,000 people in corporate and technology jobs beginning as soon as this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cJeff Bezos laundering a gauzy story about how he\u2019s committing to philanthropy just before his company announces massive layoffs is chef\u2019s kiss billionaire\/media behavior,\u201d editor of the Discourse blog, Jack Mirkinson,\u00a0noted on Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and in a\u00a0blog post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is explicit PR work for someone who absolutely does not need CNN\u2019s help to boost his profile \u2014 and rather than treating Bezos as the highly controversial person he is, [Chloe] Melas and CNN treated him as a warm and fuzzy oracle whose every banal pronouncement is a prized gift from above.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether it is a PR stunt or genuine, Jeff Bezos giving away most of his fortune is inspirational and should be celebrated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After years of being among the world\u2019s billionaires and the only one among the top five not to\u00a0publicly pledge\u00a0to give away more than half of his wealth in his lifetime or his will, Amazon founder and the world\u2019s\u00a0fourth richest person, Jeff Bezos, said he plans on giving away the majority of his $123 billion fortune…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":8328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[687,4],"tags":[71,1791],"class_list":["post-8322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-charity","category-inspiring-messages","tag-charity","tag-jeff-bezos"],"yoast_head":"\nAmazon Founder Jeff Bezos Pledges to Give Away Most of His $123B Fortune to Charity in His Lifetime<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Amazon founder and the world\u2019s fourth richest person Jeff 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