Jeff Bezos, billionaire and founder of Amazon, awarded Dolly Parton $100 million for his Courage & Civility award. Parton, who is known for her philanthropic efforts, can donate the money to any charity of her choice.
Bezos explained to CNN why he and his parter, Lauren Sanchez, selected Parton for the award. “Look at what she’s done, and how she’s led her life and the way she’s done it. These bold things, always with civility and kindness, she’s a unifier,” Bezos said.
The singer was awarded the 2022 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in October for her work on The Dollywood Foundation and Imagine Library, which has donated millions books to children worldwide and increased college access, per Vogue. In 2020, Parton donated $1 million towards research for a COVID-19 vaccine.
“I try to put my money where my heart is. I will do my best to do good things with this money,” Parton tweeted on Saturday.
What is Jeff Bezo’s plan to donate his fortune?
Bezos is the fourth-richest person in the world, with a net worth of over $123 billion according to Forbes. He recently told CNN he plans to donate his entire fortune to charity during his lifetime.
The Amazon founder has previously been criticized for his lack of charity work. Earlier this year, Bezos and fellow billionaire Elon Musk spent a large sum of money taking a joyride in space with Blue Origin, the space tourism company Bezos founded.
“Here on Earth, in the richest country on the planet, half our people live paycheck to paycheck, people are struggling to feed themselves, struggling to see a doctor — but hey, the richest guys in the world are off in outer space!,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., tweeted about the event.
Bezos was also slammed for not signing the Giving Pledge, a commitment made by many of the world richest people such as Mark Zuckerberg and Musk to donate the majority of their wealth to charity, BBC reports.
In an interview with CNN on Monday, Bezos revealed his change of heart — he plans to donate most of his fortune throughout his lifetime. He did not share specifics on what percentage he would give up or which charities he plans to donate to, but he provided part of his philanthropic plan.
He committed $10 billion over 10 years to go to his Bezo’s Earth Fund, which is co-chaired by Sanchez, his partner.
Bezos plans to take a methodical approach to his philanthropic efforts.
“The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way,” Bezos told CNN. “It’s not easy. Building Amazon was not easy. It took a lot of hard work, a bunch of very smart teammates, hardworking teammates, and I’m finding — and I think Lauren is finding the same thing — that charity, philanthropy, is very similar.”