Amazon boss gives £111m to charities...
AMAZON’S Jeff Bezos has given almost twice as much to charity as his firm paid in UK corporation tax in 20 years.
However, his donations fail to match those of his fellow tycoons.
The world’s richest man, whose fortune exceeds £122.5billion, came under fire last week when it emerged Amazon had paid just £61.7million in corporation tax since 1998. This is despite global sales of £177billion in 2018 alone.
It emerged that he has donated £111million to charity – 0.09 per cent of his wealth – according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy magazine.
That is a fraction of the aid other moguls, such as Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and tech owner Michael Bloomberg, have given.
Bezos, 55, who faces a costly divorce battle following his affair with US TV host Lauren Sanchez, was criticised by New York politician Jimmy Van Bramer, whose district includes Long Island City, where Amazon plans a new HQ.
He declared: “The records of Amazon and Jeff Bezos reveal they are takers, not givers. When they make promises of how generous they will be, I look at what they have done in the past.”
An Amazon spokesman said: “We pay all taxes required in the UK and every country where we operate.” On the charity revelations, a spokesman for Bezos said that he could not comment on “private financial arrangements”.