Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said he plans to donate the majority of his $124 billion net worth to charitable organizations in an exclusive interview with CNN's Chloe Melas airing on Monday (November 14).
Bezos, alongside his partner, Lauren Sánchez, vowed to be "building the capacity to be able to give away this money" when asked by Melas if he intends to donate the majority of his wealth compiled within his lifetime.
"Yeah, I do," Bezos responded.
The pledge is the first time that Bezos -- listed as the second richest person in the world, according to Forbes -- has publicly vowed to give away most of his money, following criticism for not signing the Giving Pledge, which included hundreds of the world's richest people promising to donate the majority of their earnings to charitable causes.
“The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way,” Bezos said, implying that he'd still be looking to maximize his return if he donated billions. “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.”
“There are a bunch of ways that I think you could do ineffective things, too,” Bezos added. “So you have to think about it carefully and you have to have brilliant people on the team.”