Jeff Bezos is a name that not just everyone in business knows. No less famous is Dolly Parton in the world of music. But her size has long surpassed her native country genre, and the American singer has won millions of fans with her warm demeanor and her charitable activities. And I just got a hundred million dollars for them from Bezos.
One of the richest people on the planet is not as generous as other less mobile billionaires. Yet the Amazon founder donates millions of his fortune to charity. And the famous singer Dolly Parton received one hundred million dollars, equivalent to 2.4 billion crowns, from Jeff Bezos along with the award for bravery and civility. From his hands, the amount goes to charity.
In addition to writing the hit songs I Will Always Love You, later made famous by Whitney Houston, Jolene or 9 to 5, and three thousand other hits, Parton is also a successful businesswoman and very active philanthropist. “Wow, a hundred million dollars! The people who have the means to do that should help. And I always tried to use the money as my heart told me,” she commented on winning the award.
Her foundation, for example, has been providing books to almost a million children for a long time and on a regular basis. It financially supports projects mainly in the field of education, as well as health and charitable organizations, nature conservation activities or communities in excluded sites. She also donated $1 million to develop the Moderna vaccine during the Covid pandemic. She even supported vaccination with a short version of her hit Jolene, replacing the name with the word vaccine, which means vaccine.
“He gives with his heart. What she has been able to do for children, literacy and in so many other areas is amazing,” Bezos himself praised the queen of the country when presenting the award, which he said rewards personalities who “they look for solutions with courage”. and kindness.” Before the eleven-time Grammy Award winner, he was greeted by none other than Van Jones, a lawyer, CNN commentator, and founder of numerous charities and non-profit organizations, and Spanish chef José Andrés.
This restaurateur recently received the Galileo Award for Philanthropy from the Vatican for his activities, where he also cooks for people affected by the war in Ukraine, just like Bezos. As part of the raffle, the Amazon founder and head of the aerospace company Blue Origin, for example, earlier promised to invest $10 billion in support of sustainability and the environment. However, he has so far achieved this plan by less than one fifth.
So far it Has Given Less, but it will Give More
Bezos’ philanthropy thus far pales in comparison to that of other billionaires. Maybe even his ex-wife Mackenzie Scott. Although his wealth is about a quarter of Bezos’s, he has already supported more than a thousand charities with $12 billion, roughly 300 billion crowns. That’s about eight times what his ex-husband has donated to charity so far.
However, shortly after the Dolly Parton award, Bezos announced that he intended to continue helping those in need. And on a much larger scale. In an interview with CNN, he announced that he wants to donate most of his fortune during his lifetime. “But it’s not easy to know how to do it effectively. Building Amazon wasn’t easy, but neither is philanthropy. There are many things that may not be effective, ”he told the American broadcaster.
And while his decision should have a similar outcome, unlike Mackenzie Scott, Microsoft founder Bill Gates or legendary investor Warren Buffett, Bezos has not joined the Giving Pledge. His supporters have publicly pledged to gradually use most of his wealth for good purposes, and Scott alone should donate $30 billion.