The Star E-dition

Bezos is a true hero to those he has helped

JOHN WHITLOCK | Germiston

IN REPLY to the article “Rich rocketman Bezos is no hero” (The Star, July 22).

Bezos was not born rich. His mother conceived when she was 17. His mother later married a Cuban immigrant, Miguel Bezos, who adopted Jeff. Bezos graduated from Princeton in 1986 with degrees in engineering and computer science. He founded Amazon in 1994 as an online bookstore out of his garage.

In the article the writer states: “A real hero would use the money to help alleviate poverty rather than wallowing in the luxury of the Starship Free Enterprise”.

A bit of research shows the following. Bezos has just given $200 million to activist Van Jones (CNN) and chef Jose Andres (World Central Kitchen). He gave $10 billion to fight climate change in 2020. He also gave $100m to the Feeding America Covid-19 Response. In 2018 he launched a $2bn fund for educating the homeless. He donated $33m to fund the education of 1 000 immigrants. The Chronicle of Philanthropy estimates that he gave $68m to charity from 2000 to 2017.

Bezos really is a true hero to those who have benefited from his wealth, and richly deserves the acclaim.

OPINION

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2021-07-29T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-29T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://thestar.pressreader.com/article/281921661082033

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