Jeff Bezos announces $2 billion fund to build preschools, help homeless families

[midian182]

In brief: To say that Jeff Bezos has a lot of money is an understatement. The Amazon founder’s net worth is estimated to be more than $163 billion, making him both the richest person on the planet and the richest in modern times. Now, he has launched a philanthropic effort that will see a $2 billion fund used to help homeless families and build pre-schools in low-income communities.

Despite his ‘world’s wealthiest man’ title, Bezos isn’t known for his philanthropy in the same way as Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, often preferring to focus on long-term initiatives. But in June last year, he decided to use his money to help those who needed it sooner, turning to Twitter for donation suggestions.

In January, Bezos donated $33 million for college scholarships to "Dreamers"— childhood undocumented immigrants allowed to stay in the country under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Now, Bezos has announced the Bezos Day One Fund, which he and his wife MacKenzie will use to fund existing organizations that help homeless families and to create a "network of new, non-profit, tier-one preschools in low-income communities."

pic.twitter.com/2GlgjztK1u

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) 13 September 2018

“We’ll use the same set of principles that have driven Amazon. Most important among those will be genuine, intense customer obsession,” he tweeted. “The child will be the customer.”

Bezos said the Day 1 Family Fund would issue grants every year to groups and organizations that provide shelter and food to young families in need. The Day 1 Academies Fund, meanwhile, "will launch and operate a network of high-quality, full-scholarship, Montessori-inspired preschools in underserved communities. We will build an organization to directly operate these preschools."

Bezos has faced criticism for his absence from the Giving Pledge, a commitment by the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to donate more than half their fortunes to good causes. And while his new charitable endeavor should be applauded, many have noted that a number of his Amazon workers remain underpaid and endure difficult working conditions.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/76436-jeff-bezos-announces-2-billion-fund-build-preschools.html

 

[timespacematter]

Very good initiative

 

[ShObiT]

Money very well spent!

 

[p51d007]

What ticks me off, is there are threads on various tech sites, reddit, Fakebook, twitter that are giving him a hard time for NOT donating MORE money. They said because he is "worth" a trillion dollars or something, he should give more.
Well, for one thing his "worth" is not in hard cash. Maybe if he liquidated everything, he'd have 2 trillion, but it's not like he has 2 trillion laying around.
Second, who the h*ll made these people think they can tell someone what to donate? Wonder how much THEY donated, if anything.
I think it was a good jester on his part, donating that amount of money for something that if properly administered, has the potential to help hundreds of families.

 

[Nobina]

It's nice an all, but he should start with people who work in his company. Heard they get treated like ****.

 

[toooooot]

What ticks me off, is there are threads on various tech sites, reddit, Fakebook, twitter that are giving him a hard time for NOT donating MORE money. They said because he is "worth" a trillion dollars or something, he should give more.
Well, for one thing his "worth" is not in hard cash. Maybe if he liquidated everything, he'd have 2 trillion, but it's not like he has 2 trillion laying around.
Second, who the h*ll made these people think they can tell someone what to donate? Wonder how much THEY donated, if anything.
I think it was a good jester on his part, donating that amount of money for something that if properly administered, has the potential to help hundreds of families.

I sincerely believe it is hard for rich people to donate money. I am sure that the more you have the more you think you need. I don't feel anything when I donate 10-20% of my monthly income. Well, it isn't much and I don't gain or lose a lot from what I donate or wouldn't. Seeing rich people donate a lot is not very common. And I don't mean those fancy "donation" parties. I mean sincere desire to help someone who really needs help.
I don't think Jeff should listen to people who tell him what and how much to donate. And he never did. But I am also sure he heard what people say about his wealth and how he manages it. And I think one thing he cares a lot is his image: a greedy man who only donates mere millions in the last years and who treats his employees or creates the environment at his stores that makes people suicide. Oh he knows, just recently he introduced spokesmen at his warehouses that are supposed to improve the image of the workplace because people say his employees pee in the bottles because they are afraid to be seen as lazy people who spend a lot of time in the restroom "resting." And the same situation I am sure is with this new fund. He wants a better image of himself. And as an energetic man who accomplishes successful projects, he is on it. I am expecting though that all the information on his new "customers" will be used to improve Alexa and his AI projects too. If they cant pay, let their behavior at least work for the well being of Amazon .

 

[Godel]

Or he could actually pay his employees a decent wage and improve their working conditions, so that a substantial percentage of them wouldn't need additional support, such as food stamps.

 

[PcePce]

Or he could actually pay his employees a decent wage and improve their working conditions, so that a substantial percentage of them wouldn't need additional support, such as food stamps.

Yeah, it's awful how these companies provide low-wage jobs for people, when they could be completely jobless and destitute, living the good life.

 

[cliffordcooley]

So now we know why Amazon recently raised their prices. This has no doubt been a thought for a long time.

 

[captaincranky]

There's too much information to type about Jeff Bezos finances, so here's a link to a Google search I did:

https://www.google.com/search?clien...ome+each+day&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

The consensus seems to be the man makes about 100,000,000 dollars a day. (or possibly as much as 300 million).

What that means in practical terms, is that this "largess" her's providing for whatever purpose, takes him less than 20 days to earn.

The search went on to indicate that Mr. Bezos makes the median annual salary of one of his workers, in about 9 seconds.

If that doesn't outrage you enough to stop dealing with Amazon whenever possible, nothing will.

But please, under no circumstances are you to speak of, or repeat, anything I've said, anywhere near your Alexa-bot.

 

[toooooot]

There's too much information to type about Jeff Bezos finances, so here's a link to a Google search I did:

https://www.google.com/search?clien...ome+each+day&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

The consensus seems to be the man makes about 100,000,000 dollars a day. (or possibly as much as 300 million).

What that means in practical terms, is that this "largess" her's providing for whatever purpose, takes him less than 20 days to earn.

The search went on to indicate that Mr. Bezos makes the median annual salary of one of his workers, in about 9 seconds.

If that doesn't outrage you enough to stop dealing with Amazon whenever possible, nothing will.

But please, under no circumstances are you to speak of, or repeat, anything I've said, anywhere near your Alexa-bot.

Truth is I don't buy anything from Amazon not because I am outraged by their ways but because usually I can find things for the same price they offer and without tax.

 

[Godel]

Or he could actually pay his employees a decent wage and improve their working conditions, so that a substantial percentage of them wouldn't need additional support, such as food stamps.

Yeah, it's awful how these companies provide low-wage jobs for people, when they could be completely jobless and destitute, living the good life.

It's been reported elsewhere that Amazon's employee's are substantially worse off both in wages and conditions (health care etc) than those working for Walmart, another company renowned for shitty pay.

So yeah, I'm sure they're thrilled.

 

[Reehahs]

Or Amazon can pay their fair share of taxes.