As Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) is reportedly set to cut 10,000 jobs this week, according to the New York Times, ex-CEO and founder Jeff Bezos said he is planning to give away his money.
Speaking to CNN in an interview, Bezos outlined that he plans to donate much of his wealth of around US$124bn to climate change causes as well as social and political movements.
Following warnings of recession, Bezos last month tweeted that it was time “to batten down the hatches”, something Amazon seems to be doing with mass job cuts.
In the CNN interview, Bezos failed to mention Amazon’s job cuts and those who would be affected.
He did refer to the economic downturn, saying that people “may be feeling the pinch now”, but that the “American Dream” will be “more attainable in the future”.
Amazon’s cuts are likely to be aimed at the company’s devices unit, retail division and human resources teams, potentially representing up to 3% of Amazon’s corporate workforce, the biggest cut in its history.
Bezos told CNN: “The probabilities say if we’re not in a recession right now, we’re likely to be in one very soon.
“My advice to people whether they’re small business owners is take some risk off the table.”
Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) (Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR)) and Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB) (Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB)), which owns Facebook, have also recently announced job cuts amid the worsening global economic situation, with thousands being laid off from each company.
At the weekend, Bezos announced a US$100mln grant to country singer Dolly Parton as part of his Courage and Civility Award.