David Campbell, Binghamton University, State University of New York
News about how little income tax some of the richest Americans reportedly pay is adding to questions about the value to society of their massive charitable donations.
Jeff Bezos is pouring $10 billion into the fight against climate change.
Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images
Rather than pump money into a broken system, people like Jeff Bezos and Charles Koch could use their money to help fix it – by insulating politics from money.
Jeff Bezos’s ex-wife is funding efforts to dismantle racism and fight homophobia.
Romy Arroyo Fernandez/NurPhoto via Getty Images
By not attaching any strings to the money, championing representation and generally taking care to respect nonprofit leaders, she’s following five best practices.
Spanx founder Sara Blakely has signed the Giving Pledge.
Marla Aufmuth/Getty Images for Massachusetts Conference for Women
A careful review of more than 200 letters written by the wealthy people who signed the Giving Pledge over its first decade suggests a big contradiction.
Big charitable endeavors are bringing her priorities into focus.
Reuters/Danny Moloshok
The US$2 billion that the Amazon founder and his wife are donating to help the homeless and educate young kids may appear selfless. But this money may also soften calls to raise taxes on the rich.
Jeff Bezos (right), now the world’s second-richest person, is charting a different course for his philanthropy than Bill Gates (left), the richest, and Warren Buffett (center), who has fallen to third place.
Reuters/Jim Tanner
Ted Lechterman, Stanford University McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society
Amazon’s founder turned to Twitter to crowdsource ideas for his charitable giving. This populist approach and his preference for short-term results set Jeff Bezos apart from other mega-donors.
Professor of Management & Organizations; Professor of Environment & Sustainability; Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the Ross School of Business and School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan