Aside from running Amazon, Bezos is devoting attention and money to BlueOrigin LLC, his for-profit space-exploration company. In April, Bezos said he sells about $1 billion of Amazon stock a year to fund the venture. “I believe it's incredibly important that we humans go out into space and the primary reason, if you think long-term about this, is we need to do that to preserve the earth,” he told Charlie Rose last year. The goal is long-term, to put it mildly. “What I want to do with Blue Origin is build heavy-lifting infrastructure that lowers the cost of access to space so that the next generation of entrepreneurs can have a dynamic entrepreneurial explosion in space,” he said. “That is how we will move all heavy industry into space and then ultimately Earth can be effectively zoned residential and light industrial.”
Bezos appears to be searching for direction to give more personally. In June, he tweeted out what he called “a request for ideas,” asking for suggestions on how he should approach philanthropy. He said because he spends so much time thinking about the long term, he’s interested in funding projects to help people in the “here and now… at the intersection of urgent need and lasting impact.” He cited Amazon's giving to Mary's Place as an inspiration for this approach. In late August, he followed up with a tweet thanking those who responded, saying they had already changed his thinking about his approach. “More to come,” Bezos wrote. Raikes, who says he considers Bezos a friend, wrote to Bezos offering to talk through how to think about philanthropy. "If you're too short-term-oriented, you can make the problem worse" by not addressing systemic causes, Raikes says. "If it’s near-term investments that help transform the system, then I think that’s good."
There's one other adjustment Bezos may need to make. Amazon has a reputation for an aggressive work environment, which can be at odds with the mission-driven motivation that lures people to philanthropy. Raikes says, "Some of the ways in which you manage and lead people in this sector have to be different."
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.