Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was criticized in the Washington Post, which he owns, for not donating enough money during the coronavirus outbreak.
Bezos was among the 50 wealthiest people and families who had their recent charitable donations evaluated in a Washington Post study published by the newspaper on Thursday. The group has a collective net worth of nearly $1.6 trillion and has announced about $1 billion, the equivalent of less than 0.1% of their combined wealth, in donations during the pandemic.
The Amazon founder has a net worth of $143 billion. He donated $100 million to Feeding America and up to $25 million for All in WA, which the Washington Post said was the “equivalent of donating $85” for the median U.S. citizen. Additionally, his aerospace company, Blue Origin, promised to use a 3-D printer to manufacture face shields for workers on the front line, but the monetary value of the effort is unclear.
Many of the country’s wealthiest people have increased their net value amid the pandemic, according to a report from Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies’ Program for Inequality.
Bezos added $34.6 billion to his wealth between March 18, when most states were in lockdown, and May 19.
