Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announces he will donate most of his fortune

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in Las Vegas in June 2019. AP - John Locher

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

Amazon founder and multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos said he plans to donate most of his wealth to charity over his lifetime in an interview with CNN that aired on Monday (November 14). 

Advertising

Read more

To the question " 

Do you plan to donate the majority of your fortune during your lifetime?"

 the entrepreneur answered: “ 

Yes

 ”.

This is the first time that the 58-year-old businessman has made such a commitment publicly.

In particular, he did not sign the “Donation Pledge”, an initiative launched in 2010 by Americans Warren Buffett and

Bill Gates

which encourages billionaires to give more than half of their wealth to charities.

According to Bloomberg, Jeff Bezos is currently worth $124 billion, making him the fourth richest person in the world.

It was once at the top of the charts, but its fortunes, largely tied to Amazon's, have declined as the company's stock has fallen over the past year.

Jeff Bezos also owns the daily

Washington Post

,

the space company Blue Origin

and the Bezos Earth Fund, a fund dedicated to the planet that he launched in 2020 by endowing it with 10 billion dollars.

The entrepreneur wants to ensure that his donations are used as efficiently as possible.

“ 

We are building the capacity

 ” to do so, he said during the interview where he appeared alongside his partner Lauren Sanchez.

Jeff Bezos' ex-wife MacKenzie Scott, whose fortune is estimated at nearly $24 billion, has already pledged to donate at least half of her wealth to charity by signing in 2019, shortly after his divorce, the "Promise of donation".

She had shaken up the world of philanthropy in early 2021 by donating $6 billion to various organizations with no restrictions or requirements attached to her contributions.

(

With

AFP)

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

  • United States

  • Gafa

  • Economy