The Baby 2 Baby charity was founded in honor of Kobe Bryant's widow. Bezos threw in $500,000 after another attendee donated $1 million, according to an account in the Daily Beast.
The amount that he donated seemed small compared to the $1 million that had just been donated. The scandal isn't that Bezos failed to match the previous donation, it's the amount he pledged is insignificant compared to his net worth.
$500,000 is.000001% of Bezos's net worth. The median household net worth is $121,411. A donation from a household with a net worth of.000001% would be. 30 cents.
How can Bezos be so generous? There are two reasons.
Bezos knows that when most people see $500,000, they think it's a lot of money, because it's more than they'll likely see in their lifetime. He cares about his public image so he's not likely to be criticized for being cheap.
Bezos is an example of the phenomenon that people get meaner and stingier as they get richer. Most billionaires give only to charities that benefit them in some way, but there are exceptions, like Bezos's ex-wife.
Based on his cheapskatery alone, Bezos is the popular short form of the name Richard.
It's tempting to look up to Bezos as a role model for entrepreneurs, but his management style shows that he's more interested in himself than the less fortunate. Think twice before emulating him.
