Amazon founder Jeff Bezos pledges to give away ‘most of’ his $120bn wealth following Dolly Parton donation

Jeff Bezos has revealed that he does plan to give away ‘most of’ his billionaire fortune during his lifetime. He follows in the footsteps of his ex-wife Mackenzie Scott, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and Investor Warren Buffett who have all promised to give their money away.

Mr Bezos was asked by CNN whether he intended to give away most of his wealth within his lifetime and replied: "Yeah, I do”. Bezos did decline to provide details on where he would spend or donate the money but said: "The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way."

Bezos made the remarkable revelation after he donated $100 million to Rock and Roll hall of famer Dolly Parton on Sunday November 13. Bezos gave Dolly Parton the Bezos Courage & Civility Award, which recognises leaders who "pursue solutions with courage and civility". Parton will be able to donate the cash award to the charities of her choice.

The award came due to Dolly Parton’s long list of charity work which has included supporting causes such as child literacy. While she is known for her iconic songs, and acting, she has been a vocal and high-profile supporter of charities. As well as this she founded her own Dollywood Foundation which has given millions of books to children around the globe.

The multi-billionaire previously pledged $10bn to the Bezos Earth Fund, which he launched in 2020 to help fight climate change. This decision came after many entrepreneurs were criticised for spending large sums of money on trips to space instead of helping to solve the problems on Earth like climate change.

Bezos has also donated more than $400 million worth of stock to non-profits in 2022, though it’s unclear which organisations received those shares. So, how much is Jeff Bezos actually worth? Here’s everything you need to know.

How much is Jeff Bezos worth?

Forbes reported in November 2022 that Bezos is worth $121.8 billion, and at the time of publishing was the fourth richest person in the world. This amounts to £108.8 billion in Sterling.

When did Jeff Bezos leave Amazon?

Jeff Bezos didn’t actually leave Amazon but instead stepped down as CEO to become executive chairman in July 2021. He handed the role of CEO over to Andy Jassy in order to  focus on "new products and early initiatives".

Bezos also retained just under 10% of all Amazon shares making him the single largest shareholder and giving him the power to shape decisions made by the new CEO. He founded e-commerce giant Amazon in 1994 out of his garage in Seattle.

Jeff Bezos is an American entrepreneur, investor and computer engineer. He is best known as the founder of Amazon which launched in 1994. Bezos stepped down as CEO to become executive chairman of the company in July 2021. He handed the role of CEO over to Andy Jassy in order to  focus on "new products and early initiatives".