Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos will give away a majority of his $US124 billion wealth during his lifetime, the billionaire told CNN in an interview on Monday.
Without providing further details, Bezos said he and partner journalist-turned-philanthropist Lauren Sánchez were “building the capacity to be able to give away this money”.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos speaks during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, on 2nd November, 2021. PICTURE: Paul Ellis/Pool via Reuters/File photo.
The billionaire has committed $US10 billion to fight climate change and protect nature through the Bezos Earth Fund, where he is the executive chair.
The fund did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Country music star and philanthropist Dolly Parton received $US100 million through the “Bezos Courage & Civility Award”, an honour recognising leaders who “pursue solutions with courage and civility”, he said on Twitter on Saturday.
Bezos, who stepped down as chief executive of Amazon in 2021, owns about 10 per cent of the ecommerce giant, along with news organisation Washington Post and space tourism company Blue Origin.
Meanwhile, Bezos’ ex-wife novelist and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has awarded Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service $US15 million in donation funds, the single largest contribution in the advocacy organisation’s 83-year history.
Scott announced donations to LIRS and more than 340 other organizations in a Medium post on Monday, totalling nearly $US2 billion in overall donations dolled out over the past seven months.
According to a press release from LIRS, Scott’s $US15 million donation comes as the group works to resettle Afghan refugees, people fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and asylum-seekers along the US-Mexico border.
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“This unprecedented and timely gift will make a monumental difference in the lives of the most vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers as they strive to achieve their own American Dream,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of LIRS, in the press release.
LIRS is one of nine groups that partner with the federal government to help resettle refugees – six of which, like LIRS, are faith-based. The Lutheran group, like many others, not only assists the refugees, but also advocates publicly for their cause.
“We are extremely grateful to MacKenzie Scott for this recognition of our decades-long legacy of service. Her support represents a transformational opportunity to expand innovative programming and reimagine how the US welcomes new Americans,” said Vignarajah.
It’s the second time Scott has listed faith groups – including other immigration rights groups and liberal-leaning religious advocacy organisations – among the recipients of her grants. In 2021, she also awarded funds to Faith in Action, Faith in Public Life, HIAS, Repair the World, Inner-City Muslim Action Network, Muslim Advocates, Pillars Fund, Homeboy Industries and Repairers of the Breach.
– With JACK JENKINS/RNS
