Jeff Bezos has confirmed that he intends to give away most of his multi-billion pound fortune within his lifetime.
The founder of Amazon is currently the fourth richest person in the world behind Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Louis Vuitton chairman Bernard Arnault, and Adani Group founder Gautam Adani, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Forbes also named him the 'richest man in modern history' back in 2018 - but he has often been criticised for failing to do enough to help others with his staggering fortune.
Speaking to CNN, 58-year-old Bezos was asked whether he planned to give away the majority of his wealth within his lifetime. "Yeah, I do," he replied, adding that he will devote the bulk of his fortune to fighting climate change and healing political and social divisions.
READ MORE: Jeremy Hunt admits he will 'play Scrooge' this winter but never cancel Christmas as budget looms
Speaking alongside his partner Lauren Sánchez, Bezos fell short of specifying where exactly the money would go or the amount he would give away. The tycoon added: "The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way. It’s not easy.
"Building Amazon was not easy. It took a lot of hard work, 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."
Bezos announced his intentions after giving a $100 million to Dolly Parton, in recognition of the music icon's charity work that focuses on improving children's literacy around the world. Dolly is the third person to receive the sum as a winner of Bezos' Courage and Civility Award, which he set up last year to give people making a difference in the world the chance to pass the money on to non-profit organisations.
In 2020 Bezos launched the Bezos Earth Fund, in which he pledged $10 billion towards fighting climate change. He has previously said that Amazon plans to be 100% renewable by 2025 and carbon neutral by 2040, thought the company has attracted criticism in the past for its high levels of carbon emissions.
The tech mogul also founded space flight company Blue Origin in 2000, which began offering flights into space in 2021 with Bezos himself on board for the first crewed flight. In 2019 the billionaire announced plans for Blue Origin, a lunar lander to take humankind back to the moon by 2024, and he has also spoken widely of his hopes to ultimately colonise the entire solar system.
READ NEXT:
World's 'deadliest' plant 6,000 times more potent than cyanide spotted growing in UK
Martin Lewis issues urgent warning to people with UK savings bank accounts over interest rates
Morrisons shopper 'nearly fainted' after seeing £8.25 price of Yorkshire Tea
Newcastle foodbank fears it could be forced to close after receiving £4,000 of parking fines
