Jeff Bezos pledges to eventually give his fortune to charity. [Towleroad]
Happy 50th birthday to Scorpio King Jonny Lee Miller. [Dlisted]
Daniel Craig did a commercial for Belvedere Vodka. [OMG Blog]
Julia Fox talks about (lack of) sex & patriarchy. [LaineyGossip]
More photos from the Baby2Baby gala. [RCFA]
What are some of the dumbest tweets of all time? [Pajiba]
Liam Hemsworth is still with Gabriella Brooks. [JustJared]
This is a heavy, almost matronly look on Diane Kruger. [GFY]
Yeah, Khloe & Kim Kardashian have been leaning into disordered body-image messaging and viewers are tuning out. [Buzzfeed]
Breaking: Anna Duggar wore jeans. [Starcasm]
Larsa Pippen is dating Michael Jordan’s 31-year-old son Marcus. [Egotastic]
Gigi Hadid didn’t go to Leo DiCaprio’s big birthday party?? [Gawker]
It’d be even better if he committed to making less money while he was alive so he could treat his employees with human dignity and respect.
Giving it all away before he dies means he can live the ultra rich life style while still getting “philanthropy” brownie points.
He should do both.
Right? WTF is this? Your workers are suffering. FIX THAT! Giving away all your money before you die to be remembered as some boss philanthropist is worthless if you dismantle decades of improvements in worker’s rights before you go.
It’s not worthless if the point is to stroke his ego. This is not about making a positive impact, it’s about burnishing his reputation , which is in the toilet. In fact, I am quite sure he will do this using every available tactic to benefit himself – positive pr, tax deductions, getting brownie points from the other billionaires etc.
Completely agree, FCH. He should absolutely do both, immediately. There’s no reason for eventually giving away money or planning to maybe eventually treat your employees well, do both from the start.
Giving to charity is not a substitute for requiring billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes. Also, a lot of them set up so-called charities to avoid taxes but there is no requirement as to when, or even “ever,” the money will be spent, and no requirement on what it will be spent on. These billionaires became billionaires by not caring about the little people or the environment, and “giving it away to charity” is an empty promise to do nothing more than buy themselves positive publicity. And even if they do give a pittance to actual charity, they usually select things that benefit themselves (Gates’ vaccines for poor countries? He keeps the intellectual property for the vaccine rather than sharing).
Well said! The problem with the philanthropy model is that billionaires get to choose who gets their money. Paying taxes puts the money in the realm of elected officials answering to constituents. Yes, politics is corrupt. Yes, money gets used improperly, but it’s still more honest and transparent than billionaire “charity.”
@zazzoo – the problem is that the “realm of elected officials” is where the tax loopholes and benefits for billionaires are created.
This! I was chatting with a guy in line on Election Day, he sells sonar equipment for cargo ships, some military, and mega yachts. He was telling me many of the gazillionaires claim their boats as nonprofit “research vessels.” 99% of the ship is for private use, but they’ll have a “scientist” on board to count ocean trash or some such thing. I knew many of the so called foundations set up were tax shelters but this was the first I’d heard of it with the mega yachts.
Hey Jeff….
If billionnaires like you didn’t devote so much time and effort to sucking sweetheart tax deals out of every town you park a warehouse in, and then MORE time and effort legal-weaseling your way out of the taxes you ARE asked to pay, maybe there wouldn’t be quite so much need for your “charity.”
Pardon me if I don’t thank the mosquito for announcing he’ll be at the blood drive.
PREACH.
Jeff Bezos is worth $122b. He could give away the GDP of Luxembourg and Iceland COMBINED, lose Aruba in the couch cushions, and still have $20 billion left to keep brand name peanut butter on his crackers til he’s dead.
How many daiquiris can you drink next to how many pools, mofo?
Is it because his ex-wife making him look bad because she done what she said? Or is it a distraction because he’s laying off a lot of people just before the holidays and the crappy ass “wants the get the holiday spirit” by giving out money. Either way he sucks.
Bit of positive PR spin hours before 10,000 layoffs are announced/projected. Less than a week after staff were told there would be no layoffs, jist a hiring freeze. What convenient timing…
But *he*is not laying off people. He is no longer the CEO of Amazon. Not excusing him for hording all that wealth but he is not calling the shots for the business anymore. Andy Jassy is
He could die tomorrow. Why not start giving the money now to organizations that are really struggling and could use the monetary infusions.
Maybe Bezos could put that cash in a special fund to improve the lives of those who made it: call it the Amazon Workers’ Bathroom Break Trust
I don’t know if those are really the dumbest tweets of all time, but they still make me think that if Twitter goes away it won’t be a bad thing.
Key word: eventually.
Props to all the shade in the Gawker Leo article.
If he was really going to give away most of his money, he would have started by now. Plenty of other billionaires give billions away and he somehow says it is too complicated? We got rid of all things Amazon over a year ago and don’t even miss it. I would rather wait weeks for a package than support that guy.
He’s been taking lessons from the Prince and Princess of Keen who love to tell us (and get credit for) all the things they’re keen to do, someday. Nice try. Just pay your workers well.
About Bezos’ self-congratulatory announcement: some user on Twitter said it best, “Someone got visited by 3 ghosts last night.”
… this is a DISTRACTION. What else was released yesterday? news that Amazon will lay off 10,000 workers as soon as this week. Don’t let billionaires launder their image..
Very good point there.
People are tuning out of the Kardashian reality show because they’ve finally realized they are all a bunch of liars. They take credit for work they didn’t do. They lecture about work ethic, but what work ethic do they really have? All they care about is stomping on everyone and anyone to get to the top. Also, the weight loss is supposedly due to a diabeties drug, but that’s just speculation. I think Kim will one day (when she’s really hit rock bottom) write a tell-all book where she finally comes clean about all her lies.
Yeah, I think they’re on Ozempic – the weight loss was sudden and extreme, and I’ve seen the effects first hand on someone I know. It adds up.
They’re too controlling over the edit, so it’s lost its rough charm and honesty. There were some real crazy moments in the E! version of the show.
Whaaaaa? I thought they got their bangin’ bods through clean living and moderation! No?
I wish that were true but I think people are tuning out because the Kard’s had their time and just aren’t the family du jour. So many young Insta influencers with the same look also hyping their family. Addison Rae and her mom might for all I know be passé now but plenty with the same esthetic ready to take their place.
I think both you and ME are right.
The Kardashians are old news and people have moved on which makes it easier for them to see the Kardashians for who they truly are and see through their lies. Once the people have moved on from a celebrity or reality star they no longer see them through rose colored glasses.
He is such a chump – just do it already if you want to, Jeff. Give away your ridiculous money without a pathetic ‘eventually’ announcement.
Seeing his ex MacKenzie get so much (well deserved) praise for giving away her money must irritate the hell out of him. But announcing intentions to someday give away BILLIONS doesn’t do much help for the world NOW.
Separately – my son’s school district just received a completely unexpected grant from MacKenzie Scott – $16M!! They didn’t apply for it, but were notified of an interested anonymous donor, went through an interview process, and then later found out what they were receiving and from who.
She is a wonderful example of what can be done when you have extremely more money than you need, and you care about improving things.
Wow that’s amazing. Sometimes extremely wealthy people are nice ! That’s very generous of her and I’m sure that money will do a lot of good.
A great thing about MacKenzie Scott’s philanthropy (aside from the scale) is she just gives the money. She doesn’t burden the recipients with tons of applications, reporting, fundraising, galas, schmoozing, etc. She gives it to people and organizations that are already doing important work, and doesn’t presume that she knows better – unlike so many other “philanthropists” and foundations that insist that you engage with and listen to McKinsey consultants (who are paid many many times the rate of those doing the actual work), report against all kinds of metrics, accept Foundation staff onto the board (who often have no relevant experience and enormous egos) and on and on. It’s so badass and so respectful and so ….. not male billionaire “I did one thing well so am now expert in everything”.
Money hoarding pig, Bezos.
#1. Treat employees like humans. Pay raises, healthcare, retirement matching 402K, etc.
#2. Should have been doing this years ago.
#3. Start making enormous donations right damn now, to charities who make certain the donations get to the needy!
#5. Insist Amazon start paying their fair share of taxes world wide At Once!
#4. Your mid-life gf makes me angry every.time. I see her plastic surgery face.
She does that Nancy Regan doe-eyed stare “Ooh, look at the man as if he is a God”
How do these wealth-hoarding jerks live with themselves?
Geffen, Gates, Bezos, Musk, Trump and on and on…I wish you’d ALL get an itch you can’t scratch in a private area + go broke and have to work a manual labor job unloading trucks by hand for 40 years!
Bro could just pay taxes
Right? Schools, roads, social service programs, etc. would all benefit from these billionaires paying what they should. Less charity would be needed!
He’s either trying to get ahead of a scandal about to break or he’s trying to weaken support for taxing the rich. This man is no philanthropist
What does he see in the girlfriend? What do you think she looks like in the morning sans make-up. Does her face just disappear? He dumped his classy first wife for this?
Tells you what kind of person he really is.
YES! Exactly. A big cheesy creep who wants a cartoon-ish gf. There is a joke from Ab-Fab where Patsy says weeks after death, her coffin will be filled with bones and plastic (bones & bumps)….
I find her fascinating to look at because in some photos, I find her very pretty in a cartoony way. Like she looks like an actual cartoonists rendition of a pretty woman. I don’t mean that in a bad way either, more just that she is sort of over the top. Like a Stepford Wife or Fembot. But in other shots, she looks rather alien because her beauty IS mapped out. But you just really freaked me out because yes, in her pjs, sans makeup with hair in a sleep-mussed ponytail– I can’t just can’t picture that.
Bezos needs to pay his workers more, give them better working conditions and he and Amazon should pay their taxes.
Great, Jeff Bezos. A typical robber barron move. Exploit and make your money off the blood, sweat and tears of peasants whom you abuse then announce philantropy to cleanse your reputation. Cold comfort for Amazon’s workers who are enslaved and suffering. And pay mother f-king taxes you sh*t.
And what about all of the Amazon employees that are making again extremely good living off of doing very little because of the fact that they are not working in a warehouse and instead are working on the computer?
So Adam Conover of Adam Ruins Everything had a great video on YouTube explaining how this whole billionaire donation thing was basically BS. He reviewed the Patagonia one that everyone was praising and it’s really interesting that it’s beyond just tax breaks. I recommend people watch it and make up their own mind.
Second this! It’s a great video. Amazingly sneaky tactics that these rich people use. I had no idea.
I have to say that in general, I am really over super rich people. Hoarding wealth is pretty gross, especially when it comes at the expense of other people, as it usually does. They should be embarrassed to be known to be that rich, even if they have no shame themselves.
I have never understood this level of wealth. People like him are so rich that they have to make a huge effort to find new ways of stashing their extra money. At that point, when you have or can purchase everything you can think of and still have ‘too much’ left over that you have to figure out where to put it, how could you possibly want more? It’s disgusting.
Bezos’ message is an offense to to the workers he abuses, the charities floundering, and the planet that doesn’t have 30 years or so to wait for his demise.
It’s like there’s a competition between the obscenely wealthy to live the emptiest, most selfish lives, causing as much suffering as they can while they’re here.
Why do Amazon guy and terrible Trump jr. have look-a-like women…
Same choice from the plastic surgeon look-book?
I am too tired to do the math. But his net worth is 124.1 billion. Ok- I am not just too tired for the math, I just can’t even wrap my head around that much money.
But he is @ 60. So if lucky, he has 40 years left on this earth. Average life expectancy says less than 20 more, but hey, let’s be generous and say 40.
What would he have to spend a year, every year, to actually use even HALF what he has? I mean, I would like to be rich for the sake of not having monetary worries and restrictions. I would even like to splurge on occasion, who wouldn’t? But it just gets to the point with these multi-billionaires where they couldn’t even spend it all if they TRIED. Again, it’s too much money for me to even grasp, but he could what- buy a new yacht every month for the rest of his life and still be a billionaire, right?
WHAT IS THE POINT???????? Pay your workers. Or your taxes. Or give liberally to charities every day starting NOW. Or do ALL those things. His billions will make billions in interest and keep him rich even if he was wiping his butt with 20s.
Instead of being hated, he could use that money to make Amazon the #1 place to work. I mean, it would be nice if he just started with making it a moderately non-abusive place, but he has the $ to make it great- wouldn’t that be something? But instead he wants to be the boy with the most cake or whatever the hell he is doing.
Turtledove, everything you said is correct and you said it better than I could.
Wealth hoarding is vile. Doesn’t matter who is doing it.
I wonder what/who Bezos is planning on leaving his money to when he goes?
Just imagine the football field sized stadium of lawyers and finance guys who would stand on their heads to get the call from Bezos, turn them loose. lol
When you really stop to think about it, what CAN you get with $120 billion that you CAN’T get with $20 or $30 billion, in terms of actual human pleasure or contentment? Whatever your “thing” is – sparkly rocks, rare art, gorgeous clothes, someone to clean your house and run your errands, cruising the PCH or the Autobahn like 007, racehorses, beach houses, WHAT EVER – there’s only so much a person can do at once, and we don’t live forever. Past a certain point, it stops being about the happiness and wellbeing of you and whomever you love.
Then it’s just showing yourself and everyone how important you are… or doing “good” but in a way YOU get to control and dictate.
That’s a dark, empty reason to do the messed-up s**t people do to get that rich.
I thought about it a lot when the PowerBall was so high (even though I didn’t play) and I figured that I’d like to come out with about a million dollars. My Covid furlough taught me that I am incapable of just…not working for extended periods of time, so a million would set me and my kid up in a nice house for us and I could work and not stress to death about getting fired or laid off and still be able to give to charity.
I feel like back in the day a show was talking about Bill Gates and that he and he kids would have to spend something like $27K a SECOND for their entire lives to run through all his money. Maybe it was $270K. I remember a 2 and a 7. And here I am, would be happy with $27k per second for a minute. That would set me straight.
Not all of the Amazon employees are suffering though. I know a good number of Amazon employees that are making an excellent living off of not doing very much at all. So there’s a large contingency of Amazon employees that would probably be quite happy to have things stay just as they are. This is a problem bigger than Jeff Bezos.
Dear mr. Bezos
– Make a tiny house voor homeless
– Donate a sewing machines for Girls abuse victims shelter.
-Donate a bijciles voor the country (thirdland) that dificult transport that needed for going to school working.
– Research for cancers /aids /autisme
fund.
– children hospitals
Its only dreaming
Why not?
These ultra-wealthy people have so little depth to their character that they can’t figure out how to use their money in constructive and creative ways. He should give it all to Dolly Parton. She will know what to do with it.
When I hear something about this guy my mind automatically goes to Bozo the clown.
Which will be sooner, rather than later, one hopes.