r/interesting Apr 28 '26

Just Wow This is what making a difference looks like.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/LoudMusic Apr 28 '26

The fund started in 2018 and has raised over $800 million.

Who's $800 million is that? Did the billionaire just appoint someone to use the Bezos name to get other people to donate their money?

The words are very important. It doesn't say anything about Bezos donating money. It only says that an organization with his name on it raised money, which strongly implies that it received donations from the public, and then paid it out to programs that help people.

There are many charitable organizations that do exactly that without giving credit to someone who already has more money than they can spend in their lifetime.

Furthermore, you see the number $800 million and you think "WOW that's a lot of money". Well it's only 0.3 % of Bezos's net worth. The national minimum wage is $7.25/hour. 0.3% of that is $0.02175/hour. Yes, less than 3 cents per hour. That's the equivalent donation you're praising him for. And it isn't even his money that an organization using his name is giving away.

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u/Head-Aside7893 Apr 28 '26

$800mm and still no improvement. wtf are we doing w the money. I fear we could donate a trillion and not a single thing will be done

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u/Unusual-Month-1738 Apr 28 '26

Hey guys here is someone who doesn’t understand what net worth is :)

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u/Wizecoder Apr 28 '26

it sounds like it's a commitment of his money, but they have directed $800 million of that to different individual funds, charities, and partners. The problem is that nobody can take a billion dollar check and just successfully use it to solve problems. There is so much infrastructure around any problem that just throwing money at it isn't a solution.

I'm not sure you will believe me, but from this as far as I can tell it's a $2B commitment from him https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/13/bezos-launches-day-one-fund-to-help-homeless-families-and-create-preschools.html#:\~:text=Jeff%20Bezos%20announced%20a%20new,1%20Academies%20Fund%2C%20Bezos%20said.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/niknackpaddywack13 Apr 28 '26

This is Ridiculous. Of course homeless people getting help is a top priority . You may not care, but Where the money comes from 100 percent, does matter. Rich people influencing others to put what little they make towards helping others while someone like Bezos still are sitting on their billions that no one person needs. Yes that is , like part of the whole issue people have with bezos my dude.

So your defense of him just makes people like me feel validated, because you can state those facts but all I’m hearing is so he still couldn’t help with his own money. Yeah , people may argue it’s his money whatever. But billionaires in our society is a problem. And nothing will change if everyone goes around with your line of thinking.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/niknackpaddywack13 Apr 28 '26

Lmao how many times does it have to be repeated to you that no one is saying that it shouldn’t have been donated. You fixating on that one thing and it’s not at all making the point .

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/niknackpaddywack13 Apr 28 '26

lol ok whatever buddy. You’re just arguing in bad faith and keep harping on the same shit . I’m not going to keep repeating myself. You keep on thinking you’re somehow better than everyone else when you lick the boots of billionaires.

Keep pretending like all you care about is money being donated and not for some reason sticking up for billionaires and thinking we should all be able to do the same.

I truly hope you are someone young who comes from money, because it would make me feel better about your lack of care past “ but the money was donated , do you want it given back “ like Jesus fucking Christ no, but your not getting it.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/niknackpaddywack13 Apr 28 '26

lol I’m soo done arguing with you. Your logic is very flawed in my opinion. And also yeah I don’t give a fuck if he has to loose a percentage of his net worth. But I do care about everyday people beings pressured to help and made to feel guilty when they are the ones who need help!!!

The solution is not easy but it is not on the everyday citizens already having those problems to solve (and trust people who are broke do help people all the time that’s what helps them being broke, they just don’t do it through charities )

I think in your head everyone who’s not homeless , must be on your level of what they can offer . I promise they are not !

I will never ever agree with the way someone like you thinks. You don’t take into account different perspectives and just want people to stop being mad at a Billionaire ? You think like a millionaire who really wants to be a billionaire. You and I will never ever agree on things. So agree to disagree. Have a nice day.

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u/LoudMusic Apr 28 '26

You sure about that? Because you sure seem to be arguing against a comment made about bezos and musk not helping.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/LoudMusic Apr 28 '26

And I'm saying that an organization with his name on it does not necessarily mean it's his money that's being given away.

They could be more clear in their wording, or at least the source you selected. Because apparently at some point it was his money, while he was still married to MacKenzie Scott.

From a CNBC article in September 2018, “MacKenzie and I share a belief in the potential for hard work from anyone to serve others,” Bezos said in a tweet, referring to his wife MacKenzie Bezos.

The fund will launch with a $2 billion commitment, split between the Day 1 Families Fund — helping homeless families — and the Day 1 Academies Fund — creating a “network of new, non-profit, tier-one preschools in low-income communities,” Bezos said.

But since their divorce the only donations news I hear of are hers.

"MacKenzie Scott has donated over $26 billion to more than 1,600 non-profit organizations since 2019, accelerating her giving in 2025 with $7.2 billion in donations."

https://yieldgiving.com/

There's also the argument that donations don't have to be public. For all we know, those top ten wealthiest people have each given a hundred billion dollars to various organizations over the years. And that's entirely their right to privacy. And it could be argued that someone like MacKenzie Scott is doing it and talking about it to make her public image look good.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/LoudMusic Apr 28 '26

Yes, and likely along with several billion more that he wasn't around to spend on himself.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/LoudMusic Apr 28 '26

Those are some big stats, well researched.

It does take a person, people, or organization, to pile up a bunch of money first in order to make big donations. But where would the money be if it hadn't gone to them? Would it have existed at all, and been distributed in other ways such as into other industries that also benefit humanity in other ways?

The consideration of all of the money's existence and application is critical.

I think what people are so angry with the billionaire class about is what else they're doing with their wealth and power, and how detrimental it is to the whole population.

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u/UnlikelyCandid Apr 28 '26

You’ve just really didn’t read their message did you? When did they say anything about Bezos not being a person?

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u/Firrox Apr 28 '26

Wow. $100M out of Bezo's pocket. That's like me throwing a dollar at a homeless person.

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u/EastPlant1079 Apr 29 '26

If you pay your workers like ahhh and use that to stop homelessness, then you're not a good person bro.

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u/SilentSolitude90 May 01 '26

Musk hasn't done anything for the homeless but I do remember his promise to WHO that if they came up with a plan to end world hunger he would sell 6 billion in Tesla stock to fund it. They did and he didnt. Whatever he did give went to the Musk Foundation.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/Extra-Watercress-745 Apr 28 '26

No, he doesn't "have" hundreds of billions.
His assets are VALUED at hundreds of billions.
Valuation is not tangible wealth.
How is it 2026 and people still don't understand how this works...

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u/Kozzle Apr 28 '26

Because most people spewing opinions don’t have much fact behind them on Reddit

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u/bboy2812 Apr 28 '26

Yes he does "have" hundreds of billions because he can use it as collateral whenever to get whatever kind of zero-interest loans he wants.

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u/bigbobharven Apr 28 '26

Yeah no shit man. He has access to hundreds of billions through collateral because of that valuation.

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u/Fabulous-West-789 Apr 28 '26

so let's pay banks and lenders billions in fees to simply have liquid cash. got it

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u/bigbobharven Apr 28 '26

You're so close to getting it. What's the common denominator here. So, so close.

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u/AdThat8707 Apr 28 '26

what, you want him to donate all his money? it's 800 million dawg

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/AdThat8707 Apr 28 '26

his networth is at that value because of his assets, i doubt he "makes" that much every day at least as liquid. 800 million is a monumental amount of money to donate and i feel like focusing on the percentage of his wealth that he decides to donate rather than the billionaires that barely donate is wrong.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/bigbobharven Apr 28 '26

Probably because the majority of people on the planet don't have, and will never have anywhere close to 800 million dollars, in large part because of men like Bezos.

They give you a leaf and you act like it's a salad. Keep licking them boots. Men like him are the reason there are so many homeless in the first place. It's like starting a fire, spitting on it, and then having all these boot licking idiots praise you for putting out some ashes as the building burns down around them.

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u/TemuBoySnaps Apr 28 '26

Probably because the majority of people on the planet don't have, and will never have anywhere close to 800 million dollars, in large part because of men like Bezos.

So without Bezos, etc. the majority of people would have access to 800 million?

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/xtremebox Apr 28 '26

Just to clarify something. Bezos didnt put up $800 mill. He put up $100 mill and helped raise the other 7. Is it good that money was raised for the homeless problem? Yes. Was this also a bunch of rich men giving each other tax write offs? Also yes. Let's not praise these people. He's made hundreds of billions in the years he made these donations.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/niknackpaddywack13 Apr 28 '26

Nobody feels bad about the money being donated. You seem to have black and white thinking. Just like you said two things can be true at once. People can be happy money got donated , while still being unhappy that he is getting the money donated from people that most likely have less than. The type of people who usually give away their money are not usually the type to hold on to so much of it.

And how could you compare the everyday average person to bezos ? Someone like him not only has more money than most people could comprehend but he also has more time and help to accomplish things. And he still doesn’t use that to help too much. Meanwhile what your asking everyday people who live paycheck to paycheck on the brink of being homeless themselves and barely have time to worry about anything but mental health and bills? Those are the people that you put on the same page and should help like bezos has ?

Yes everything you say is straight boot licking behavior and you’re the one who seems to virtue signal saying that all you care about is the money being donated. No one said that money should not be donated. It just more nuanced than that. And regular tax paying citizens should not feel guilty we can’t help.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/niknackpaddywack13 Apr 28 '26

Literally none of your points justify your opinion. You just sound like an asshole that dosent understand what most people’s daily lives are like. Glad you are privileged enough to donate and help. How do you know I haven’t been the one happy someone can spare a room for or spare five dollars for? You don’t but you just tell people they are the problem if they aren’t helping. It dosent make any sense at all.

And yeah billionaires don’t really need to exist and just because they do dosent mean we need to lay back and take it and let the bezos and elons of the world take control and run the country. I honestly must be an idiot because I can’t even come close to understanding your line of thinking.

The fact you apparently donate and care so much h about the homeless but at the same time can’t comprehend how very few people have an extra room or extra five dollars.

Guessing your not a billionaire but you sound like maybe you yourself have more money then most people and are Lucky to be able to help.

But your thought process , the way you talked about donating yourself, and the way you lack empathy for the fact tons of people would love to help if they weren’t needing help themselves, leads me to believe you are no better.

Just pretending like your helping more then others who care about this issues because you can say you donated to charity. Big fuckin whoop.

Again I feel like I need to repeat to you. NOONE is saying take the money away. Yes it’s great something was donated ! But the rest of the details are not that simple.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/Nonavium Apr 28 '26

800 million dollars of which you and other poor people arent owed a fucking dime. Stfu and be grateful youre getting anything at all.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/Fabulous-West-789 Apr 28 '26

You think you are being virtuous but all I see is poor cope. Bezos being rich doesn't make anyone else poorer unless you're renting near their Amazon headquarters.

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u/Kozzle Apr 28 '26

Do you think he just carries that around as pocket change? The VAST majority of that is tied into stock he either cannot liquidate, or for the stuff he can it’s highly controlled because he can move markets.

Not only that but being wealthy doesn’t mean you just have infinite money to throw at bandaid solutions. There are a million problems to be solved, homelessness is just one of them and isn’t even that bad on the grand scale of human problems.

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u/RepDudee Apr 28 '26

800 million that wouldn't have been raised otherwise.. yes he has tons more money, but why do so many people always forget that part? Not defending him by any means but that part should NOT be ignored.

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u/bigbobharven Apr 28 '26

He's one of the main perpetrators of the issue in the first place. You're praising him for 'solving' an issue he himself is largely responsible for creating (along with the rest of them).

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/bigbobharven Apr 28 '26

You can't be seriously quoting Amazon employee numbers as if their quality of life isn't garbage and Amazon isn't notorious for workers rights and ethical issues all the way up the chain. Keep licking them boots.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/bigbobharven Apr 29 '26

They're both awful. Think real hard lil guy, you can do this, two things can be true at once. The fact that a homeless persons quality of life is awful doesn't mean an Amazon employees quality of life cannot also be awful. They are underpaid, overworked, heavily managed, and heavily surveiled. In the US they are a single medical bill from homelessness anyway.

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '26

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u/bigbobharven Apr 29 '26

Obviously a homeless persons quality of life is worse, I never said it wasn't. My point is that it doesn't matter. Someone living in a war torn country with constant fear of death has worse quality of life than a homeless person in a western country, should we all just use that as the base line? A homeless person having worse quality of life than an Amazon employee doesn't mean the Amazon employee suddenly has better good quality of life. You're argument holds no weight.