Amazon founder Jeff Bezos gave $100 million each to CNN’s Van Jones and chef José Andrés in the new “Courage and Civility award”. They are the first two recipients of this award.
The self-made billionaire announced these awards at the end of a press conference after his successful trip to space onboard the rocket built by his space company, Blue Origin, to the edge of Earth’s atmosphere.
According to Bezos, the Courage and Civility Award “recognizes leaders who aim high and who pursue solutions with courage and who always do so with civility.” It is a new philanthropic initiative consisting of a $100 million award that recipients can “direct to the charities of their choice as they see fit.” He also stated that, “No bureaucracy, no committees. They just do what they want. They can give it all to their own charity or they can share the wealth. It’s up to them.”
Van Jones is a CNN commentator and founder of the racial justice nonprofit Dream Corps, while José Andrés is a chef and the founder of World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit that feeds people in disaster zones.
Jeff Bezos added that “These are people who have demonstrated courage. By the way, it’s easy to be courageous, but also mean. Try being courageous and civil. Try being courageous and a unifier. That’s harder and way better and makes the world better.”
“We need unifiers and not vilifiers,” Bezos said. “We need people who argue hard and act hard for what they believe. But they do that always with civility and never ad hominem attacks. Unfortunately, we live in a world where this is too often not the case. But we do have role models.”
“We live in a world where sometimes instead of disagreeing with someone’s ideas, we question their character or their motives. Guess what? After you do that, it’s pretty damn hard to work with that person. And really what we should always be doing is questioning ideas, not the person.”
In accepting the award, Van Jones said “sometimes dreams come true.” To Bezos, he said, “You bet on me and I appreciate it.” He added that he would give to other people who have similar spirit.
José Andrés said that the award itself “cannot feed the world on its own. But this is a start of a new chapter for us.”
Jeff Bezos stepped down as Amazon’s CEO on July 5, exactly 27 years since he launched the company. However he is still Amazon’s biggest shareholder, and his wealth is tied to the success of the company, now valued at $1.8 trillion.
