Jeff Bezos said that singer and philanthropist Dolly Parton will get $100 million from him to give to any good causes she wants. On Saturday, Bezos posted a short video and news about an event where he and his partner, Lauren Sanchez, gave Parton the 2022 Bezos Courage and Civility Award.
Sanchez said that the award “recognizes leaders who aim high, find solutions, and always do it with civility. Each awardee receives $100 million to direct to the charities that they see fit.”
Parton’s first words after getting the award were, “What? Did you say a hundred million dollars?” She went on to say, “When people are in a position to help, you should help,” per the video. “I know that I’ve always said I try to put my money where my heart is,” she continued. “I will do my best to do good things with this money. Thank you Jeff.”
Parton is known for giving books to kids through the Imagination Library program of her foundation. She also gave $1 million to the research that led to the COVID-19 vaccine made by Moderna. She was given the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in July 2022.
The Her Dollywood Foundation is a public charity, which means that anyone who wants to can give money to it. The Her Dollywood Foundation made donations and grants worth $3.6 million in 2020, the most recent year for which financial information is available.
We’ve just announced a new Courage and Civility award recipient — @DollyParton, who leads with her heart, and will put this $100 million award to great use helping so many people. She joins prior awardees, @VanJones68 and @Chefjoseandres. Congrats, Dolly! pic.twitter.com/dzTuoGVp3G
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) November 12, 2022
In July 2021, Bezos chose the first two people to get this award. They were Jose Andres, who started World Central Kitchen, and Van Jones, who started Dream Corp. and is known for being on TV.
On Monday, November 7, filings showed that Bezos gave $174 million worth of Amazon stock to charities. This was the largest donation of Amazon stock this year. It’s possible that some of the stock that was just given away went to a charity that Parton runs.
Bezos’s spokesperson hasn’t responded to a request for comment yet.
Forbes says that Bezos is the fourth richest person in the world right now, with an estimated worth of $124 billion. Forbes says that he has given $2.4 billion over the course of his life, and that’s not counting this new gift.
