Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Launches $2B Fund To Help The Homeless, Build Preschools For Low-Income Families
The world's richest man has been coming under pressure to help with the growing homeless problems. He tweeted about his philanthropic plans writing he wants "to be helping people in the here and now—short term—at the intersection of urgent need and lasting impact.”
Reuters:
Amazon's Jeff Bezos Commits $2 Billion To Help Homeless, Pre-Schools
Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Inc's founder and the world's richest person, said on Thursday he will commit $2 billion (1.5 billion pounds) to helping homeless families and starting pre-schools for low-income communities. The announcement marks a deeper foray into philanthropy for Bezos, whose fortune has soared to more than $160 billion thanks to his stake in Amazon. Dominance in e-commerce and the nascent field of cloud computing has made Amazon the world's second-most valuable public company. (Vengattil and Dastin, 9/13)
The Wall Street Journal:
Jeff Bezos To Create $2 Billion Fund For Homeless, Preschools
Mr. Bezos’ increase in charitable giving comes as Amazon has faced criticism over the wages it pays to warehouse workers and broader societal effects tied to the e-commerce giant, for example, driving up property prices in its hometown of Seattle. Seattle recently tried to enact a tax to force the company to help with the city’s growing homeless problem, though the decision was later reversed. And Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a bill aimed at taxing big companies whose employees rely on federal benefits to make ends meet, specifically targeting Mr. Bezos by contrasting his vast personal wealth with the compensation of the companies’ lowest-paid workers. (Stevens, 9/13)
