Tag: Jeff Bezos

  • Jeff Bezos Donates Record Breaking $200M To Smithsonian

    Jeff Bezos Donates Record Breaking $200M To Smithsonian

    Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos will donate $200 million to the Smithsonian, the largest gift in the history of the institute, a statement said Wednesday.

    A $70 million portion of the donation will support the renovation of the National Air and Space Museum while $130 million will launch a new education center to be named after the world’s wealthiest person.

    The Bezos Learning Center will be housed in a new facility to be constructed on the National Mall, and will feature programs and activities to inspire students to pursue science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.

    “Since its inception, the Smithsonian has benefited from both federal funding and the generosity of visionary donors,” said Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch.

    “This historic gift will help the Smithsonian achieve its goal of reaching every classroom in America by creating a world-class learning center with access and inspiration at its heart.”

    “The Smithsonian plays a vital role in igniting the imaginations of our future builders and dreamers,” added Bezos, who is set to fly to space on Blue Origin’s first crewed rocket launch on July 20.

    “Every child is born with great potential, and it’s inspiration that unlocks that potential. My love affair with science, invention and space did that for me, and I hope this gift does that for others.”

    Bezos, who has an estimated net worth of $212 billion according to Forbes, has a long history of supporting the Smithsonian.

    He was a founding donor to the National Museum of African American History and Culture and has previously contributed to the National Air and Space Museum.

    He also has strong ties to the nation’s capital, with a mansion in the upscale Kalorama neighborhood, as well as owning the Washington Post newspaper.

    Established in 1846, the Smithsonian Institute is the world’s largest museum, education and research complex.

    Named after its founder, the British scientist James Smithson, it is funded through federal appropriations, gifts, its own revenue-generating activities and philanthropy.

    In 2000, late real estate tycoon Kenneth Behring donated $80 million to the Smithsonian, then its biggest single gift ever.

  • Jeff Bezos resigns as Amazon CEO

    Jeff Bezos resigns as Amazon CEO

    American Billionaire, Jeff Bezos has stepped down as the chief executive of Amazon 27 years after he founded the company.

    The 57-year-old, who is also the company’s biggest shareholder, made it known in a statement that he will be replaced by Andy Jassy, the mastermind behind Amazon’s cloud computing division.

    He further revealed that he wanted to “focus his energy and attention on new products and early initiatives” in his new role as executive chair.

    ”This journey began some 27 years ago. Amazon was only an idea, and it had no name.

    “Today, we employ 1.3 million talented, dedicated people, serve hundreds of millions of customers and businesses, and are widely recognized as one of the most successful companies in the world.

    ”I would like to state that I have made the decision to step down as the company’s CEO but will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives.

    ”I will also be concentrating on projects away from the day-to-day running of the business in his new position,” he said.

    Bezos also noted that the move would give him the “time and energy” needed to “focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post” and his “other passions”.

    He said that he had “full confidence” in his replacement, Mr. Jassy.

    “Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have. He will be an outstanding leader, and he has my full confidence,” he added.

  • Jeff Bezos to step down as Amazon CEO

    Jeff Bezos to step down as Amazon CEO

    Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will step down as the company’s chief executive officer this summer, after more than a quarter-century at the helm of the retail, logistics and tech powerhouse.

    Jeff Bezos will leave his post later this year, turning the helm over to the company’s top cloud executive, Andy Jassy, according to an announcement on Tuesday. Bezos will transition to executive chairman of Amazon’s board.

    Jassy joined Amazon in 1997. He has led the Web Services cloud team since its inception. AWS drives much of Amazon’s profit.

    “I’m excited to announce that this Q3 I’ll transition to Executive Chair of the Amazon Board and Andy Jassy will become CEO,” Bezos said in a letter to employees.

    “Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have. He will be an outstanding leader, and he has my full confidence,” he added.

    Bezos said as chairman, he will focus his energies and attention on new products and early initiatives.

    The mogul’s other interests are Bezos Earth Fund, The Washington Post and Amazon Day 1 Fund.

    Amazon sells and delivers a wide range of products worldwide.

    The gigantic online retailer is worth more than $1.6trillion; Bezos is the second richest man after Elon Musk.

  • Jeff Bezos becomes first person worth $200 billion

    Jeff Bezos becomes first person worth $200 billion

    Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has become the first person in history to hit $202 billion net worth.

    The American billionaire broke the wealth barrier on Wednesday as shares of his online shopping company, continued skyrocketing due to the unending demand for online shopping.

    His Seattle company’s stock continued to surge higher on Wednesday pushing Bezos’s net worth up $5 billion to a massive $202 billion.

    The 56 year-old business tycoon is $77.7 billion richer than Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who is now the second richest man in the world, after Bezos first took over the title in 2017.

    Bill Gates is the second richest man in the world with $124.3 billion.

    Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is the third richest man in the world after reaching the ” century-billionaire” status with a net worth of $114.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

    While the world is facing economic challenges, the next 10 richest people in the world have gained more than $150 billion since 2020.

    That figure includes the $73.6 billion that’s been added to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s net worth as his electric automaker’s stock has skyrocketed.

    Jeff Bezos is also founder of space rocket company Blue Origin, which his ownership stake is worth $7.2 billion. Plus, he has $7.1 billion worth of cash and other assets, according to Bloomberg.

    Jeff would have reached the $200 billion status earlier if he wasn’t divorced by his wife MacKenzie Scott who he had to give 4% of Amazon stock, giving her a $62 billion net worth.

  • Jeff Bezos pledges $10bn fund to combat climate change

    Jeff Bezos pledges $10bn fund to combat climate change

    Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has pledged $10 billion to a new fund to tackle climate change but activists have urged the world’s richest man to first clean up the e-commerce giant’s own lacklustre environmental record.

    The e-commerce tycoon said the Bezos Earth Fund would “fund scientists, activists, NGOs — any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world.”

    “Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet,” Bezos, whose net worth is estimated to be around $130 billion, said in an Instagram post to his 1.4 million followers on Monday.

    However, Greenpeace USA said Amazon still had “massive climate issues,” asking: “Why won’t Bezos lead by cleaning up his own house?”

    Hundreds of Amazon employees last month signed a blog criticizing the online retail giant’s climate policies and demanding it does more to tackle climate change.

    Amazon has been accused of creating vast amounts of waste from the packaging it uses for doorstep deliveries, as well as for the greenhouse gas emissions from huge vehicle fleets.

    The company, which in December said its workforce had hit 750,000, has also been denounced over its carbon footprint because of the high energy consumption of its server farms for its lucrative cloud computing activities.

    Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, the group behind last month’s criticism, responded to Bezos’ pledge by urging the company to stop working with oil and gas companies and swap its diesel trucks for electric vehicles.

    “We applaud Jeff Bezos’ philanthropy, but one hand cannot give what the other is taking away,” the group said in a statement.

    Bezos, who maintained his status as the world’s richest person despite an expensive divorce last year, said his new foundation would begin issuing grants later this year.

    “I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share,” Bezos said in his announcement on Monday.

    – Amazon’s carbon targets –
    Last September, he said Amazon would pledge to become carbon neutral by 2040 and vowed that the company would order 100,000 electric delivery trucks.

    Rather than make investments that the business guru might profit from, the fund would allocate grant money to projects, The New York Times said, quoting unnamed sources familiar with the initiative. Bezos divulged few details on his social media post.

    Bezos has often clashed with US President Donald Trump, who regularly attacks climate change activists and recently called them “perennial prophets of doom.”

    The fund was described as Bezos’s biggest philanthropic commitment.

    However, the New York Times said that even if Bezos spent the full $10 billion — approximately 7.7 per cent of his fortune — immediately, he would still be the world’s richest person.

    Last week, he reportedly agreed to buy a Beverly Hills mansion built in the 1930s by Hollywood movie mogul Jack Warner for $165 million, a record price for a California home.

    Global corporations in all sectors have been churning out climate action plans to reduce carbon footprints and adapt to tomorrow’s low-carbon economy but experts have cautioned that many of these seemingly ambitious pledges are more greenwashing than green.

    Microsoft announced a plan earlier this year that would not only allow the software giant to become “carbon neutral” within a decade, but also to erase its entire carbon footprint since its creation in 1975.

    But the claim partly depends on technologies that do not yet exist on a meaningful scale, such as machines that suck carbon dioxide directly out of the air.

    The company also has highly lucrative deals supplying major oil and gas companies with state-of-the-art tools to boost extraction rates and supply forecasts.

  • Jeff Bezos buys estate for $165m

    Jeff Bezos buys estate for $165m

    Billionaire Amazon chief Jeff Bezos has purchased a Los Angeles-area estate for $165 million, setting a new record for the region, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

    Bezos bought the Warner Estate from media mogul David Geffen, according to the Journal.

    It said the deal topped a Los Angeles-area home price record set last year when Lachlan Murdoch paid around $150 million for a Bel-Air estate seen in “The Beverly Hillbillies,” a 1960s television show.

    The Warner Estate spans nine acres (3.6 hectares) in Beverly Hills. It is a Georgian-style compound with a floor once owned by Napoleon, guest houses, a tennis court, and a nine-hole golf course.

    It was originally built in the 1930s by the late Jack Warner, former president of Warner Brothers, the Journal reported.

    Bezos, whose worth has been estimated at more than $110 billion, started internet colossus Amazon and is considered the richest person in the world.

    Amazon has expanded from its original mission as an online retailer and now is a major force in cloud computing. Its digital assistant Alexa has been incorporated into thousands of consumer products, and the firm operates one of the largest streaming video services