The Amazon co-founder and fourth richest man in the world, with a net worth of $115 billion, has contributed $123 million to organizations that help homeless individuals find permanent housing.
The donations, ranging from $600,000 to $5 million, to 40 organisations in 26 US states and Puerto Rico are the most recent and largest from Bezos’ Day One Fund, which was established in 2018.
The donations are effective immediately, according to the Day One Fund, and are part of a $2 billion total commitment to combating homelessness.
The foundation committed $2 billion to generating meaningful and long-term benefits in two areas: financing current non-profits that assist families suffering homelessness and developing a network of new, non-profit tier-one preschools in low-income neighborhoods.
His pledge to combat homelessness is his second charitable contribution this month. Bezos previously stated that he intends to give away the majority of his income during his lifetime, with the majority of his charity focusing on combating climate change and assisting individuals who strive to unite others. He offered Dolly Parton, the music diva who is the newest recipient of his Courage and Civility award, $100 million to donate to any charity of her choice.
During an interview with CNN, the fourth richest man on the planet revealed for the first time that he intends to donate his money to people and organisations that are uniting humanity and helping to heal profound social and political differences. For years, he generally avoided charity, drawing criticism for refusing to join the Giving Pledge, a pledge by many of the world’s wealthiest people to devote the majority of their money to charitable causes and Other Philanthropic Gestures.
According to Forbes, Bezos has donated more than $2.4 billion to charity in his lifetime.
In 2020, he pledged a total of $10 billion to his own climate foundation, the Bezos Earth Fund. The fund had granted over $1 billion of that total as of November 2021.
He established a $100 million Courage and Civility Award last year, which he provides to a recipient to be distributed to charity of their choice. He recently bestowed the honor on famous vocalist Dolly Parton.
He previously gave similar sums to chef Jose Andres, whose World Central Kitchen feeds people in disaster-stricken places, and climate activist and CNN contributor Van Jones.
