Jeff Bezos Plans To Give Away His Fortune, Starting With Dolly Parton
By Movieguide® Contributor
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has revealed plans to give away the majority of his $124 billion dollar fortune throughout his life.
Bezos, the fourth-richest person in the world, plans to donate his money towards combating climate change and to people capable of unifying the world. One of those people? Dolly Parton.
Parton was presented with the Bezos Award for Courage & Civility, which comes with a $100 million prize.
The award recognizes “leaders who aim high, find solutions, and who always do it with civility,” and the prize money will be directed “to the charities that (recipients) see fit.”
Bezos said Parton “embodies these ideals so thoroughly; she gives with her heart. What she’s done for kids, literacy and so many other things is just incredible.”
Parton responded, “Wow! Did you say $100 million? When people are in a position to help, you should help, and I know that I’ve always said I try to put my money where my heart is… I will do my best to do good things with this money.”
“The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way,” Bezos said of giving away his fortune. “It’s not easy. Building Amazon was not easy. It took a lot of hard work — a bunch of very smart, hard-working teammates, and I’m finding — and I think Lauren [Sanchez, his partner] is finding the same thing — that charity, philanthropy, is very similar.”
He continued, “There are a bunch of ways that I think you could do ineffective things, too, so we’re building the capacity to be able to give away this money.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Parton’s humanitarian history:
Dolly Parton is one of the world’s most beloved musical icons, creating country songs that have become huge hits, starring in movies, and helping thousands through her humanitarian efforts.
Parton recorded her first single in 1962 and rose to fame as a duet partner for Porter Wagoner. The two churned out hits like “Please Don’t Stop Loving Me” and “Making Plans.” Parton soon left the show and struck out on her own, launching a hugely successful music career.
Some of her biggest hits include “Jolene,” “I Will Always Love You,” “Here You Come Again,” “Islands in the Stream (feat. Kenny Rogers)”, and “9 to 5.”
“9 to 5” was the theme song for a movie of the same name, which was another huge hit for Parton. She also starred in projects like STEEL MAGNOLIAS and JOYFUL NOISE.
Parton has also produced projects based on her music, like DOLLY PARTON’S COAT OF MANY COLORS and DOLLY PARTON’S HEARTSTRINGS.
Her achievements in music, movies, and television are nothing compared to her impressive charity work over the years. Her literacy program, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, provides books to almost 850,000 children around the world each year. In 2018, the Imagination Library donated its 100 millionth book.
Her Dollywood Foundation raises money for a number of causes, including creating new hospitals, helping those affected by wildfires, and funding cancer research and COVID-19 vaccine development.
Parton’s success and dedication to helping others has made her one of the biggest stars in the world, and her fans can’t wait to see what she does next!
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