Amazon Founder and world’s second richest man, Jeff Bezos has revealed plans to give away most of his $124bn (£110bn) fortune during his lifetime.
The 58-year-old who is the world’s second-richest man after Elon Musk, according to Forbes, has been criticised in the past for not signing the Giving Pledge, a campaign founded by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to encourage the mega rich to contribute most of their wealth to charity.
Asked directly by CNN whether he planned to give most of his money away, Mr Bezos said: “Yeah, I do.”
Bezos told the US broadcaster that he and his girlfriend, the journalist-turned-philanthropist Lauren Sanchez, were “building the capacity to be able to give away this money”.
He said the money would go to causes that work to tackle climate change and to support people who can unify humanity.
Last week, it was announced at the start of the COP27 summit that his Bezos Earth Fund had pledged $1bn more by 2030 to help protect carbon reserves and biodiversity – building on $9bn of funds already committed to the climate cause.
It was also revealed that country music star Dolly Parton had received a $100m (£85m) prize from Mr Bezos.
The courage and civility award gives people the chance to donate cash to causes of their choice.
Meanwhile, Bezos is just the latest billionaire to give away portions of their fortune, but he is by no means the most generous, having being out-donated by his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott.
According to Forbes, while Bezos has pledged a lot of support, he has only donated $2.4bn (£2.03bn) to philanthropic causes in his lifetime.
That’s about $10bn (£8.5bn) less than Ms Scott, who Forbes said has given away $12.8bn (£10.9bn).
His donations are dwarfed by many of his tech and business billionaire contemporaries.
Warren Buffett tops the list of billionaire American donors, having given $46.1bn (£39.2bn) over his lifetime.
He’s followed by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, who have donated a combined $33.4bn (£28.4bn).
George Soros and Michael Bloomberg both have given away more than Mr Bezos, at $18.1bn (£15.4bn) and $12.7bn (£10.8bn) respectively.
All giving by modern billionaires has been outpaced, however, by an Indian businessman who died in 1904.
Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, who founded the multinational conglomerate Tata Group, is said to have given donations worth $102bn (£86.76bn) today, according to Edelgive Hurun’s India Philanthropist of the Century report.
Parton, a long-time philanthropist herself, has already established a number of charities and put $1m towards the development of a COVID vaccine during the pandemic.
Bezos has more time on his hands to devote to his passions after stepping down as chief executive of Amazon last year.
But he continues to own about 10% of the ecommerce-to-streaming giant. His other business interests include ownership of the Washington Post and space tourism company Blue Origin.
