Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon and the world’s richest man, has just announced his a donation of $10 billion in an effort to tackle climate change. The ‘Bezos Earth Fund’ will begin the distribution of funds to various scientists, activists, NGOs to work on global climate issues. The fund is expected to begin distributing grants this summer.
According to Forbes, the Amazon CEO has a total net worth of $129.9 billion, making this pledge worth around 7.7% of his net worth. Bezos announced the donation through his Instagram profile.
This pledge comes after Bezos unveiled the Climate Pledge, where he stated that Amazon would be carbon-neutral by 2040, and ordered 100,000 electric delivery trucks from Rivian, which Amazon invested in.
Bezos’ Climate Pledge comes at a time when Amazon has been heavily criticized for damaging the environment. Earlier this year, news was broken about Amazon silencing employees who criticized the company’s environmental values.
Bezos is not known to donate often, with his largest donation thus far being $2 billion towards helping homeless families and schools in September 2018. Bezos is the only American among the world’s five richest people who has not signed the Giving Pledge, in which participants promise to give away more than half of their wealth during their lifetimes or in their wills.
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