Billionaire Amazon
Bezos said he will focus most of his philanthropy on efforts to fight climate change and to those who work to fight "division" in American politics in an interview with CNN on Saturday.
Bezos is the fourth wealthiest person in the world at a net worth of roughly $120 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, behind only Tesla
This is the first time Bezos has made such a pledge, though he did not provide a specific timeline or dollar amount in his statements.
"The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way," Bezos told CNN. "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."
Over the past few years, Bezos has cultivated a balance of large public-facing acquisitions and private luxury spending. He has made headlines through his acquisition of The Washington Post newspaper and as one of the bidders for the NFL's Washington Commanders, while also sparking interest his investments made in his private aerospace company Blue Origin as well as the commission of his $500 million yacht under construction in the Netherlands.
After stepping down as head of Amazon, Bezos began to pivot towards more charitable spending. Bezos has pledged to donate $10 billion through his Earth Fund, which aims to help restore nature and create future-focused food systems. As of November 2022, the Bezos Earth Fund has granted $1.54 billion to climate change efforts.
This weekend, Bezos and his partner Lauren Sanchez donated $100 million to Dolly Parton, awarding her the Courage and Civility Award. The country music celebrity has several long-standing philanthropic projects and is allowed to use the donation towards any charity she chooses.
Bezos presented the award and $100 million each to disaster relief specialist José Andrés and activist Van Jones last year.
Bezos has been criticized for not signing the Giving Pledge, a promise started by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett for the wealthy to donate the majority of their fortunes to charity. The Pledge's signatories include Melinda French Gates, Mike Bloomberg and Bezos' ex-wife MacKenzie Scott.
