Amazon boss Jeff Bezos
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Jeff Bezos may have $ 1 billion for Amazon Shares per year to fund his Blue Origin missile company, but he says he spends more of his fortune fighting climate change.
During an interview at the Ignatius Forum in Washington, DC last week, the Amazon founder and CEO was asked what he would think of it Critics who argue that billionaires like him should spend more of their wealth on earth’s climate problems than on space travel.
“They miss the duality that we need to do both and that the two things are deeply connected,” Bezos told Harvard Business Review editor-in-chief Adi Ignatius. “I spend even more money on the Bezos Earth Fund than I do on space.”
Bezos admitted that there was “an enormous amount to be done” on earth, but in order to “continue to grow as a civilization”, people would have to develop resources on other planets as well.
Bezos launched the $ 10 billion earth fund in 2020 to provide grants to scientists, activists and other organizations working to protect the climate. So far, the fund has raised $ 947 million, and the goal is to spend the remaining $ 9 billion by 2030.
After his resignation as Amazon CEO in July, Bezos spends more time on personal ambitions like the Earth Fund and Blue Origin as well as the Washington Post, the he has acquired In 2013.
Bezos takes more time, especially for Blue Origin projects. CNBC previously reported that Bezos recently doubled his weekly commitment to Blue Origin, devoting both Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons to updates or discussions at the space company.
Bezos has long been interested in space. When he graduated from high school, he did made a farewell speech He wants to “build space hotels, amusement parks, yachts and colonies for two or three million people orbiting the earth”. He ended his farewell speech with the words: “Space: the final frontier. Meet me there.” It should be a riff on the “Star Trek” slogan.
Bezos played a small role as an alien in the science fiction film “Star Trek: Beyond” in 2016.
“That wasn’t an easy gig,” Bezos told Ignatius, adding that he only spoke one line during the film. “I insisted on a speaking role, which complicated the whole scenario.”
SEE: Why the Bezos Earth Fund is investing $ 500 million in renewable energy to fight climate change
