Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, whose net worth is $117 billion, burnt his fingers when he pledged $690,000 to a wildlife recovery organisation towards Australian bushfires relief efforts — leading to social media users slamming him for donating a pittance which he makes in less than 5 minutes.

Since September, fires have ravaged more than 80,000 square km — an area larger than Ireland — and left 28 people dead, besides an estimated one billion wild animals in Australia.

The fires have released some 349 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over the past four months, according to the non-profit Journalists for the Planet, compared to 532 million tonnes of the country's total annual emissions in all of 2018.

"Our hearts go out to all Australians as they cope with these devastating bushfires. Amazon is donating 1 million AU dollars in needed provisions and services. Find more about it and learn how customers can help as well," Bezos posted on Instagram. This was enough to put the social media platforms on fire.

'Those with less money donated more'

"Worldwide people have raised around $10 Billion...This dude could match that and still have $100 BILLION... Truly an inspiration," posted a user on Bezos' Instagram.

"So you're donating 690k US dollars to an entire country burning. Amazon makes about that much in 10 minutes," posted another.

To put things in perspective, Amazon today has a market cap of $936 billion.

Facebook has pledged $1.25 million towards bushfire relief efforts and metal band Metallica, which Forbes estimates is worth $68.5 million, has pledged $750,000 which is more than what Amazon has offered.

US media personality Kylie Jenner is giving $1 million while Elton John has donated $1 million towards the Australian wildfires.

"This may sound horrible, but $690,000 is a pittance for #JeffBezos. That's like me putting $2 into the Salvation Army bucket," tweeted one user.

"Agree anything helps. However, when your

Instagram model Kaylen Ward told Buzzfeed that she's raised more $1 million by offering to send a nude photo to anyone who showed her proof that they donated to one of a list of organisations working in Australia.

Bezos' controversial donation history

In November 2019 too, when the Amazon founder announced his donation of $98.5 million to 32 organisations in 23 US states helping homeless families, social media users took no time in reminding Bezos his net worth.

"If you made $50,000 per year this is the equivalent of giving away $45," wrote a user on Twitter.

"Jeff Bezos could buy a $150,000 house for every homeless person in America and still have almost $20 BILLION in personal wealth," wrote the other.

"A whopping .09% of his net worth. Thanks so much Jeff," read one more tweet.

Jeff, who is the richest man in the world, isn't known for donations or philanthropic work like Bill Gates, who is the second richest man. In fact, among the five richest people in the US, Bezos is the only one who has not signed onto the Giving Pledge — a philanthropic commitment in which the givers promise to give away over half of their wealth earned during their lifetime.

A New York Times article in 2017 had termed Bezos' charitable history as "largely a mystery". A non-profit organisation, run by Bezos' parents, which has given millions of dollars to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has also not received any contributions from Jeff, as per a report by Business Insider published in May 2019.

Until 2018, Bezos never appeared on the annual list of America's 50 largest donors, said the report, adding that he took the top spot in the list in 2018 after launching a $2 billion fund for education programs for the homeless. The donation, however, reportedly, represented just about 1.3 percent of his net worth then, according to the report.

Major donations Bezos gave since becoming a billionaire in 1997:

As compiled by Business Insider in its report, Bezos has made about nine major donations since becoming a billionaire. Here they are:

August 2011: $10 million to the Museum of History & Industry, Seattle.

December 2011: $15 million to Princeton University's Neuroscience Institute.

July 2012: $2.5 million to Washington United for Marriage, a same-sex marriage advocacy group.

January 2013: $500,000 to Worldreader, a nonprofit for providing access to e-books and e-readers.

May 2016: $1 million pledge to match donations to Mary's Place, a homeless nonprofit in Seattle.

May 2017: $1 million to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

January 2018: $33 million to TheDream.us, a nonprofit funding college scholarships for immigrants.

September 2018: $10 million to With Honor, a PAC for electing military veterans.

September 2018: $2 billion Bezos Day One Fund launched to support education programs for the homeless.

- With IANS inputs

First Published:Jan 14, 2020 2:30 PM IST