Why Jeff Bezos Is Planning To Give Away His Fortune While He’s Still Alive
Jeff Bezos is planning to donate his money to his philanthropic endeavors, including those related to preserving the environment.
We have all dreamed about having more money than you could ever need and what that first gigantic purchase you make for yourself or your family members would be. When you are the 4th wealthiest person on the planet it passes from a dream and into reality. I don’t know what that first big item Jeff Bezos the founder of Amazon purchased but I am sure it put a huge smile on his face, but now he wants to give that wealth away to charity.
There is one dream most of us don’t ever have or give much thought to. If you already bought everything that your heart desires, all that your loved one’s heart’s desire, and your future descendants’ unknown wants and needs have been taken care of for the next 4 generations and you still have billions of dollars left over. What would you do with all that excess money?
Jeff Bezos has had to give this serious thought because that is exactly the position that he finds himself in. He has come to the decision that he is going to give the excess away to people and organizations that he feels are bettering the world either by bringing people together or actively taking measures to prevent people from ruining the Earth’s sustainability for future generations. I would like to think an overwhelming majority of us would do the same thing if we were in his shoes.
In a recent sit-down interview that Jeff Bezos did with CNN’s Chloe Melas he described his plans for the allotment of money he intends to give away. Even though his answers about this topic fell short of divulging a specific outline and consideration criteria. We were able to at least glean some insight about the thought process around which he might use to make those decisions.
Jeff’s girlfriend Lauren Sanchez who is a former journalist-turned-philanthropist sat in on the interview to shine a light on his courage and civility award with a 100 million dollar grant that had been presented to Dolly Parton. The 20-minute interview covered a wide variety of topics from the award grant, the current economic downturn, the potential purchase of the NFL’s Washington Commanders, Bezos and Sanchez’s partnership, and how to give away that money. Jeff Bezos made his fortune by being a terrific leader of the people and by building relationships with brilliant and talented people.
According to CNN Business, “Bezos compared his philanthropic strategy to his years-long effort constructing a titanic engine of e-commerce and cloud computing that has made him one of the most powerful people in the world. The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way,” Bezos relayed to CNN.
CNN theorized, “…implying that even as he gives away his billions, he is still looking to maximize his return.” Bezos admitted, “It’s not easy. Building Amazon was not easy. It took a lot of hard work, and 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.”
Bezos continued, “So, you have to think about it carefully and you have to have brilliant people on the team.” It appears that his plan does not include him randomly tossing money out a window until it has all been given out. It sounds like he wants to exponentially use the money to accomplish more of his environmental goals or help further his impact on society.
If you were hoping that he was going to stop by your neighborhood with a wheelbarrow filled with cash for you it does not sound like that is in the cards for any of us. However, if you have been dedicating your life to helping the greater good of the world. You never know your doorbell might ring and when you look to see who it is on your phone app, it just might be Jeff Bezos.
