Jeff Bezos Net Worth: Amazon Founder Plans To Give His Fortune To Charity

Jeff Bezos' fortune has grown to an estimated $124.1 billion and now the Amazon founder is deciding what to do with it when he is gone.

He's already made one significant decision. Instead of leaving his billions to his four children or other family members, Bezos plans to give the majority of his fortune to charity throughout his lifetime.

During an interview with CNN, Bezos said that he is in the process of donating money to fight climate change and helping people who can unify humanity in the face of deep political and social divisions.

Bezos and his partner Lauren Sanchez sat down with CNN's Chloe Melas on Monday to bring attention to the Bezos Courage and Civility Award. Musician Dolly Parton recently received a $100 million grant.

Nonetheless, he said most of the details are still a work in progress.

"The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way," Bezos said.

"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 and his partner Lauren Sanchez sat down with CNN's Chloe Melas on Monday to bring attention to the Bezos Courage and Civility Award. Musician Dolly Parton recently received a $100 million grant.

Past recipients of the award include CNN contributor Van Jones and celebrity chef Jose Andrés.

The interview is the first time Bezos has publicly vowed to give his money away. He has faced criticism for not signing the Giving Pledge, which some of the world's wealthiest people have signed and promised to donate their fortune to charity.

Bezos, the fourth richest person in the world, has not confirmed a specific percentage of his wealth that he plans to give away.

"There are a bunch of ways that I think you could do ineffective things, too," Bezos said. "So you have to think about it carefully, and you have to have brilliant people on the team."

Bezos has committed to donating $10 billion over 10 years, approximately 8% of his current net worth, to the Bezos Earth Fund.

The organization gives grants to non-governmental organizations, activists, and scientists "to help preserve and protect the natural world."

His ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, received 25% of the Amazon shares she shared with Bezos in the 2019 divorce settlement.

Scott has since pledged to donate at least half of her wealth to charity and has given an estimated $12.8 billion to over 1,200 organizations.