Bezos pledges to give away most of fortune to charity

The Amazon founder Jeff Bezos plans to join the ranks of the world’s great philanthropists by giving away most of his vast fortune during his lifetime. Bezos, 58, has joined some of the world’s wealthiest people, including his ex-wife, in promising to give away his fortune to fight climate change and help to bridge political divides. He is worth US$124 billion (NZ$203 billion), according to Bloomberg. ‘‘We have big problems in the world and the way to get big problems done is to work together,’’ he told CNN. He had previously been criticised for failing to sign the Giving Pledge, a commitment made by some of America’s wealthiest people to give away at least half their fortunes.