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Google PlayJeff Bezos, one of the wealthiest men alive, has pledged to donate most of his wealth to charity.
In an interview with CNN, Bezos said that he and his partner, Lauren Sánchez, are “building the capacity to be able to give away this money.” With a net worth of $124 billion, the Amazon founder is officially the fourth wealthiest person in the world. When he spoke with CNN’s Chloe Melas recently, he was asked if he plans to donate most of his fortune to charitable causes, and he replied, “Yeah, I do.”
“The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way,” he added. “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. … There are a bunch of ways that I think you could do ineffective things, too. So you have to think about it carefully and you have to have brilliant people on the team.”
His comments come just as he awarded Dolly Parton $100 million as part of the Bezos Courage and Civility award, which recognizes “leaders who aim high, find solutions and who always do it with civility.”
“She gives with her heart,” said Bezos upon presenting Parton with the award, per NBC News. “What she’s done for kids, literacy and so many other things is just incredible.”
During his interview with CNN, Bezos also commented on recent reports that he and Jay-Z are working on a joint bid on the Washington Commanders. “Yes, I’ve heard that buzz,” he said. “I grew up in Houston, Texas, and I played football growing up as a kid … and it is my favorite sport … so we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Despite Bezos’ pledge to donate most of his wealth, Variety reported on Monday that Amazon is planning to lay off approximately 10,000 employees in its corporate and technology sectors. The job cuts would be the largest in the company’s history.
