Bezos pledges to donate his fortune, as Amazon plans job cuts
Amazon founder will donate "majority" of wealth to fighting climate change
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the world's fourth-richest person, plans to donate the majority of his wealth during his lifetime.
In an exclusive interview with CNN, Bezos said he would devote the majority of his charitable efforts to combating climate change and aiding people who work to end social and political inequality.
Bezos' interview was broadcast just a few hours before news broke that Amazon would be cutting 10,000 employees from its workforce.
With a net worth of $124 billion, Bezos is currently the fourth richest person in the world, according to Forbes.
Now the executive chairman of Amazon, Mr Bezos resigned as CEO in 2021, citing a desire to "have the time and energy" to devote to his philanthropy and other interests.
Bezos has lately come under fire for refusing to join The Giving Pledge, a campaign supported by some of the wealthiest people in the world encouraging people to donate money for charitable causes.
As part of the Giving Pledge, more than 230 of the world's richest individuals have committed to giving money to charitable causes.
Bezos told CNN that he and his partner Lauren Sánchez are working on a practical and effective way to donate the majority of Bezos' wealth.
He declined to provide a precise percentage or an estimated amount when asked how much of his fortune he intended to donate.
"The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way," Bezos said, indicating that even while he plans to donate most of his fortune, he is still searching for ways to increase corporate profits.
"It's not easy. Building Amazon was not easy. It took a lot of hard work, a bunch of very smart teammates, hard-working teammates, and I'm finding — and I think Lauren is finding the same thing — that charity, philanthropy, is very similar."
Bezos has committed $10 billion to the Bezos Earth Fund, which aims to combat climate change.
Its top priorities include lowering the carbon footprint of construction-grade steel and cement (a huge contributor to CO2e emissions), pushing financial regulators to take climate-related risks into account, developing data and mapping technologies to monitor carbon emissions, and constructing massive, natural plant-based carbon sinks.
In accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement, Amazon has also committed to lowering its carbon footprint by 2040 (this is still far behind its cloud competitors).
As part of an annual contribution known as the Bezos Award for Courage and Civility, Bezos and Sanchez announced a $100 million award on Saturday for the singer and philanthropist Dolly Parton to direct to her chosen charity causes.
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