Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and humanitarian chef José Andrés were jointly honored for their philanthropy at the Vatican this week. Bezos and Andrés were the first recipients of the Prophets of Philanthropy award from the Galileo Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the work of the Catholic Church and Pope Francis.
Bezos, currently worth an estimated $138 billion according to Forbes, has focused his philanthropy on three main areas: climate change, preschool education and homelessness. In 2021, he committed to spend $10 billion by 2030 to help solve the climate crisis. “Our oceans are acidifying, and our fish stocks are declining. Soil is degrading, and deserts are encroaching,” Bezos said in a speech accepting the award. “In almost all cases, it is the poor and vulnerable who are suffering most from these disasters, while they have done the least to cause them. Caring for nature is caring for people. This message is one that we must continue to spread.” Bezos accepted the award as his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, has continued to make headlines for a philanthropic donation spree she started after the couple split in 2019. Scott has handed out more than $12 billion since the divorce. She does not frequently publicize her donations, but the organizations that receive her money sometimes do. To name just a few in recent weeks: VisionSpring, a group that provides eyeglasses …