Blue Origin Founder Jeff Bezos Donates $443 Million to Various Organisations

On 6th December, Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos announced donating $443 million to charitable organisations. The announcement follows up on Jeff Bezos’ speech during COP26 in Glasgow. Part of the money will go to the Earth Fund established by Bezos.

Jeff Bezos’ previous year of contributions to charity include $791 million donated to 16 different organisations. Those came as part of Blue Origin founder’s commitment to donate $10 billion to the Earth Fund he established. The full amount should be transferred by 2030.

On 6th December, 44 more grants were announced. Out of the total announced, $130 million will go to the Justice40 initiative – the recent effort from US President Joe Biden to combat climate change. 

An additional $261 million will be allocated to preserve 30% of the land resources in the Congo Basin and tropical Andes. Finally, the remaining $51 million will help support land restoration in Africa. 

According to Dr Andrew Steer, the Earth Fund executive, the organisation’s goal is to fight the climate challenges of this decade. Most initiatives supported by the recent donations should be accomplished by 2030. 

Besides, Jeff Bezos has already contributed $100 million to the Obama Foundation and $200+ million to the Smithsonian Museum. 

Despite Blue Origin founder’s effort to allocate billions of dollars to charity, the public doubts the entrepreneur’s true intentions. Amazon now faces controversy from labour activities, claiming that the workers have been intimidated to cast votes under security cameras after the company lost one of its warehouses. 

Besides, the public and eco-activists are concerned about Blue Origin space tourism flights, claiming that Jeff Bezos and his rocket launches negatively affect the atmosphere and the environment back on Earth.