Jeff Bezos has awarded $100 million grants to several individuals and organizations through his "Courage and Civility Award," designed for recipients to donate to charities of their choosing. Recent recipients (2024–2025) include actress Eva Longoria and retired Navy Admiral Bill McRaven, who received $50 million each.
Jeff Bezos Gives $100 Million Each to Van Jones of Dream Corps and José Andrés of World Central Kitchen – Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Jeff Bezos, through his Courage and Civility Award, granted $100 million total in March 2024, splitting $50 million each to actress Eva Longoria and retired Admiral Bill McRaven for their philanthropic efforts, supporting causes like Latino education for Longoria and veterans' families for McRaven, as part of Bezos' ongoing philanthropic initiative to fund societal unifiers.
Jeff Bezos gave Eva Longoria $50 million in March 2024 as part of his annual Courage and Civility Award, recognizing her significant philanthropic work, particularly her efforts to empower Latinas through education and entrepreneurship via the Eva Longoria Foundation. The award, presented by Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sánchez, is given to individuals who demonstrate civility and work to solve complex problems, with recipients choosing how to use the funds to benefit those in need.
The $100m donation to Parton is the third Bezos has made as part of his Courage and Civility award, after similar grants to the chef José Andrés and the climate advocate Van Jones. “All she wants to do is bring light into other people's worlds,” said Sánchez.
Yes, Jeff Bezos famously paid himself a modest salary of around $80,000 per year at Amazon for about two decades, choosing equity over large paychecks to align with his founder's mindset and drive wealth through increased company value, not more salary. He felt his significant ownership stake provided ample incentive, and he was proud of this decision, which allowed him to avoid higher taxes while his stock value soared.
According to the divorce filings Jeff Bezos will keep 75% of the former couple's Amazon stock and control 100% of the voting rights. He also retained all the interest in The Washington Post and Blue Origin. Mackenzie Bezos was awarded 25% of their Amazon shares valued at over 38 billion dollars.
Elon Musk, World's Richest Person, Doles Out $474 Million In 2024 To Charities, Many Belonging To Him.
Jeff Bezos awards $100 million to Eva Longoria and Bill McRaven for charity purposes | Fortune.
Jeff Bezos graduated from Princeton University in 1986 with a 4.2 GPA in electrical engineering and computer science, graduating summa cum laude and earning memberships in honor societies like Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi.
While Buffett is number one as measured by total giving, George Soros has given away a larger percentage of his net worth than anyone else on this list: 76% so far. A significant amount of his Open Society Foundations' work over the years has gone to support democracy in places like Central and Eastern Europe.
No single group holds exactly 90% of the wealth globally or in the U.S., but the top 10% of adults globally hold about 85% of the world's wealth, while the bottom 90% hold only 15%, showing extreme concentration; in the U.S., the top 1% owns roughly as much wealth as the bottom 90% combined, with the wealthiest 10% holding about two-thirds of the nation's wealth.