Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos has said that he plans to pledge the majority of his wealth to charity. The business tycoon, with a net worth of $124 billion, will be donating the funds to combat climate change and to support people who can unify humanity amid growing social and political divisions, he said in an interview with CNN.
Mr Bezos, who gave the interview with his partner Lauren Sanchez, added that the two were “building the capacity to be able to give away this money”. Mr Bezos did not specify how much of his wealth he is planning to give away. However, when asked if he will be donating a major portion of his wealth to charity during his lifetime, Mr Bezos replied, “Yeah, I do”.
Talking about his philanthropic strategy, Mr Bezos shared the challenges he faced while building the e-commerce giant Amazon. “The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way,” he said. Mr Bezos stressed that it wasn't easy to establish Amazon and that it took a lot of hard work and smart and diligent teammates. “And I think Lauren is finding the same thing — that charity, philanthropy, is very similar,” he added in the interview.
Mr Bezos gave this year's Bezos Courage and Civility Award to American country singer and philanthropist Dolly Parton along with the $100 prize. Ms Sanchez, who was present at the award ceremony, said that the singer was “a woman who gives with her heart and leads with love and compassion in every aspect of her work”, according to BBC.
In the interview, Ms Sanchez said she and Mr Bezos could not think of anyone better to give the award to and that they believe “she is going to do amazing things with it”.
