Jeff Bezos donated $98.5 million to dozens of groups helping the homeless population last week. But one of the world's wealthiest men continues to face criticism of his philanthropic efforts from those who feel Bezos could afford to give more.
The latest critic to chime in with respect to the Amazon CEO's charitable giving is U.K. Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who noted in a tweet on Sunday that the amount of Bezos' latest donation represents only "0.09%" of the billionaire's net worth. (That math checks out, based on the Forbes estimate of Bezos' net worth at roughly $110.3 billion.)
Corbyn followed up with a call for Bezos to "just pay your taxes," likely a reference to the fact that Amazon paid a total of $0 in federal taxes for 2018 despite reporting profits of more than $11 billion before taxes for that year.
In the past, critics argued that the Amazon CEO was not putting his massive wealth toward enough philanthropic efforts. In September 2018, Bezos launched his Bezos Day One Fund, a $2 billion philanthropic fund aimed at fighting homelessness and supporting education in low-income communities. (The recent grants are part of that fund.)
However, Bezos' pledge was still met with questions, including from skeptics who wondered how exactly the $2 billion would be put to use and why the billionaire was pledging a total amount equal to less than 2% of his overall net worth. Bezos also never revealed how long it would take him to donate the entire $2 billion, though he hinted the fund might grow over time.
Even with that large pledge, Bezos still only ranked 23rd on Forbes' ranking of the top charitable givers of 2018. The Amazon CEO donated a total of $131 million last year, according to Forbes, including a $97.5 million donation to 24 groups fighting homelessness (he topped that gift by $1 million with last week's donation). By comparison, fellow billionaires Warren Buffett gave a total of $3.4 billion to charity last year, while Bill and Melinda Gates donated $2.6 billion.
Tom_Hanks_Tiramisu on November 26th, 2019 at 01:14 UTC »
Not really sure how to address the corporate tax situation here in the US, but let’s all drop the bullshit concept that the same government that has dumped over 6 trillion into perpetual war in the Middle East gives a single cinnamon toast fuck if tax revenue is spent efficiently and effectively.
sudo_rm_-rf_mind on November 26th, 2019 at 00:35 UTC »
That feel when you realise it's not real and Boris' Johnson is Prime Minister.
Itsjakefromallstate on November 26th, 2019 at 00:12 UTC »
Yes fuck you bezos... Alexa when will my order of baby cheeses arrive?