Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos is not sure where and how to donate his money, and what does he do when faced with such a conundrum? He takes things to Twitter.
Put differently, he's asking his followers of more than 220,000 for philanthropic ideas, particularly any act that can help people in the "here and now."
Bezos Wants The Public's Ideas
Bezos explains in his request that he's looking for a charitable activity at the "intersection of urgent need and lasting impact," which would be in contrast with how his businesses — Amazon, Blue Origin, and The Washington Post — are "contributing to society and civilization in their own way" in the long term.
"I'm thinking about a philanthropy strategy that is the opposite of how I mostly spend my time — working on the long term. For philanthropy, I find I'm drawn to the other end of the spectrum: the right now," he said.
Request for ideas… pic.twitter.com/j6D68mhseL
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) June 15, 2017
To no one's surprise, he quickly received a ton of replies, getting approximately 2,500 responses in under two hours.
In the US, 40% of homeless youth are LGBT and gay teens are twice as likely to attempt suicide and twice as likely to succeed. — Tom Coates (@tomcoates) June 15, 2017
Repurpose the skills of military veterans to b immediate responders to natural disasters. Aka @TeamRubicon — Jake Wood (@JakeWoodTR) June 15, 2017
The education brings hard skills for immediate need -> a job. Also train student on learn how to learn to continue to grow -> lasting impact — Sylvain Kalache (@SylvainKalache) June 15, 2017
Bezos Wants To Be More Active In Philanthropy
While Bezos is already pretty active in charity work, he has yet to make a big name in the world of philanthropists.
Case in point, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda Gates, has the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is backed by Warren Buffett, the fourth richest person in the world.
More than that, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who is the world's fifth richest person, and his wife, Priscilla Chan, started the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
In other words, Bezos has yet to establish something like his peers have created, but from the look of things, he's about to change that.
On that note, he has donated in the fields of health research, education, and arts and culture. Additionally, his parents run the Bezos Family Foundation, which is funded almost solely by Amazon stock, that makes regular donations to certain causes.
The Bottom Line
Aside from piloting giant robots, where he looked like he's out for world domination at the time, it appears that the Amazon founder wants to change the world for the better, and he wants to see them happen as soon as possible.
For the record, Bezos has a net worth of more than $80 billion, making him the second richest man in the world behind Gates, according to Bloomberg.
Interestingly enough, he's not the highest paid person in Amazon, despite owning the company itself.
With all said and done, what do you think should Bezos do with his money? Feel free to hit us up in the comments section below and let us know.
