ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / NEWS

Jeff Bezos could easily end U.S. hunger with his massive wealth as per estimates. But would he?

How much money could Jeff Bezos give everyone in the world? See statistics about the Amazon founder’s massive net worth and how it could be spent.
PUBLISHED SEP 28, 2024
Jeff Bezos participates in an event hosted by the Air Force Association in National Harbor | Getty Images | Photo by Alex Wong
Jeff Bezos participates in an event hosted by the Air Force Association in National Harbor | Getty Images | Photo by Alex Wong

In 2018, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said he would spend his massive net worth—then around $131 billion, now around $180 billion—on space travel through his company Blue Origin

 

“I am very lucky that I feel like I have a mission-driven purpose with Blue Origin that is, I think, incredibly important for civilization long term,” he told Business Insider. “And I am going to use my financial lottery winnings from Amazon to fund that.”

That plan came as a disappointment to Dr. Harold Pollack, a public health and social services expert who wrote in a New York Times opinion at the time that Bezos “has done conspicuously less to aid humanity than have many other tycoons, even those who command far less wealth.”

Pollack went on: “Mr. Bezos’s comments and record regarding philanthropy reflect a surprising lack of creativity and strategic vision regarding what his fortune could accomplish.”

Other people have had different ideas regarding what that fortune could accomplish, though, including the people who have asked how much Bezos could give to everyone in the world.

 

Jeff Bezos could give $23 to every person on the globe.

Jeff Bezos
Source: Getty Images

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the world population is around 7.75 billion. Bezos’ net worth at the time of this writing is $180.4 billion, according to Forbes

Therefore, Bezos could give everyone in the world about $23.27. Limiting that math to just the United States, Bezos could give each of the roughly 330 million people living in America about $546.66.

He could have paid all of his employees a $173k bonus.

 

In February, when Bezos’ net worth was $196 billion, he could have given every one of Amazon’s 1.13 million employees a $173,628 bonus, Nexstar reported. 

The wire service had other statistics to share: Bezos could have given $25,764 to every resident of Washington, where Amazon is based. Or he could have spent $3.7 billion per week for a year. Or he could have spent $1 billion every day for the next month and still have had $165 billion remaining.

Bezos could have bought 23 percent of Tesla.

The Verge took a more comical approach to hypothetical uses of Bezos’ wealth in February. The site reported that Bezos could have purchased 1,932 diamond-encrusted Damien Hurst skulls (worth $100 million a skull), or 64,000 Bugatti Chirons (at $3 million a vehicle), or 644 copies of Larry Ellison’s private island (which Ellison purchased for $300 million), 19 iterations of the James Webb Space Telescope (costing $10 billion per telescope), or even 23 percent of Tesla (valued at $818 billion at the time).

He perhaps could have ended hunger in the United States seven times.

Turning serious, The Verge also speculated that Bezos could have put that fortune toward ending hunger in the United States. Hunger Free America CEO Joel Berg said in 2016 that it would take $25 billion—which Bezos has seven times over—to solve U.S. hunger.

“Mr. Bezos will be remembered as a great businessman,” Pollack concluded in his 2018 New York Times op-ed. “It’s up to him whether he will be remembered."

This article was originally published three years ago. 

MORE ON MARKET REALIST
Lubetzky was the first to drop out but then came back as he was impressed by the entrepreneur.
3 hours ago
The appraiser took the guest's breath away as she was expecting to get much less for it.
4 hours ago
The show got close to hitting the record of the longest Bonus Round losing streak.
5 hours ago
She continued to be hyperactive throughout the game even with her answers.
7 hours ago
With four offers on the table, the founders of Bucket Golf smartly got a deal that they wanted.
9 hours ago
Fans took to Reddit to discuss if the show has gotten a little too social for its style.
1 day ago
When the Holy Grail toy came up to Harrison's table, he wasn't willing to let it go.
1 day ago
The founder of 'Noshi Food Paint' was down to the last shark for a deal.
2 days ago
Ashia who won $25,000 executed an epic celebration after her win in the "To The Penny" game.
2 days ago
Harrison was offering more than he usually does but the seller was also adamant.
2 days ago
It turned out that the gift came from one of the greatest American sculptors in history.
2 days ago
The guest who got the collection at an auction was shocked to find out its true value.
3 days ago
The guest who paid $15 for the storage cabinet was pleasantly surprised in the end.
4 days ago
The men of Shark Tank looked as dashing as ever in their red wigs from 'How to be a Redhead'.
4 days ago
It was a dream come true for many in the Pawn Shop to see the great WWE wrestler.
4 days ago
This was a rare occasion on which contestants made Harvey nervous on his show.
4 days ago
Fans are now getting concerned as the "accident-prone" host can't seem to find his balance.
5 days ago
Greiner put her foot down to get a deal with "Simply Fit Board" and it all worked out in the end.
5 days ago
Turns out Steve Harvey is quite sensitive about some of his facial features.
5 days ago
The TikTok creator exposed the political links of suppliers and manufacturers of these products.
6 days ago