Edinburgh residents share their thoughts on billionaire Jeff Bezos donating his fortune

The fourth richest man in the world has pledged to give away ‘most’ of his fortune during his lifetime.

There are just over 3,000 billionaires in the world and Jeff Bezos is the fourth wealthiest in that demographic.

The top three billionaires are Elon Musk (CEO of Tesla), Bernard Arnault (CEO of LVMH) and Gautam Adani (founder of the Adani Group).

Jeff Bezos has an estimated net worth of £110 billion which he has mostly accrued from his company Amazon which he founded in 1994.

Jeff Bezos has pledged to donate most of his fortune before the end of his life.

The businessman has recently announced that he will be giving away a huge amount of his fortune over the course of his life.

He was asked by American network CNN about his financial goals and he confirmed that he was putting plans into place to donate his money.

Jeff wishes to help causes that tackle climate change and humanitarian crises across the globe.

He has not yet committed to any details on his future donations but when asked how much he would be letting go of he said most of the £110 billion.

There are just over 3,000 billionaires in the world and Jeff Bezos is the fourth wealthiest in that demographic.

The Edinburgh Evening News asked its readers what obligation do they think billionaires have to use their money for good?

Readers such as Mary Smith are in favour of Bezos donating his fortune to charity.

She said: “You can’t take it with you and so much good could be done with this money, very kind man.

“You get to an age when you realise you can’t talk to money, however there are people out there struggling. We need to help one another.”

Jeff has an estimated net worth of £110 billion which he has mostly accrued from his company Amazon which he founded in 1994.

Linda Chivers wrote: “I hope it all goes to great causes. He is in a very privileged position.”

“That is very good and kind,” agreed Vikki Stevenson.

However some readers such as William P Henderson disagreed and believe that billionaires should keep their fortunes.

He said: “It’s their money to do with what they wish.”

Clay Childress wrote: “They have no more obligation than you or me. The top one per cent pay half the taxes already. He’s already been carrying us.”

Carl Johnson also agreed, he wrote: “I don’t think billionaires should give their money away, maybe just pay the correct amount of tax like everyone else.”

The subject of tax is one that came up time and time again amongst readers who pointed out that the wealthy are not known for sticking to tax rules.

Angela Brown commented: “I hope it goes to good causes but it would have been a good idea to pay tax on the amount of money that has amassed.”

Gordon Paton said: “If they would pay their share of taxes we could decide where to spend the money instead of him.”

With the cost of living crisis gripping the nation many readers pointed out that they would not mind being on the receiving end of the billionaires charity.

Dave Mac wrote: “Sling one or two million my way Jeff. Should cover the electric bill until January.”

Jennifer Ratclidd agreed she said: “I’ll have a couple million if he likes.”

Alisa McKinnon commented: “Feel free to send me some.”