(CNN) — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiancee Lauren Sanchez will give $50 million each to Bill McRaven, a retired Navy admiral and former chancellor of the University of Texas system, and actress and businesswoman Eva Longoria as part of Bezos’ annual award. Society
The annual Bezos Courage and Civility Award is presented from 2021 and is given to people who strive to find solutions to complex problems, promote unity in society and embrace civility. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the Amazon founder is the second-richest person on the planet, behind only LVMH chief Bernard Arnault, and is worth about US$200 billion.
In 2021, the inaugural recipients of the award were Van Jones, lawyer and CNN commentator, and chef Jose Andres, who received US$100 million each. Artist and philanthropist Dolly Parton was a 2022 recipient; There was no award in 2023.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (left) and his fiancee Lauren Sanchez (center left), with Bill McRaven (right), retired Navy admiral and former chancellor of the University of Texas System, and actress and businesswoman Eva Longoria (center right). (Credit: 2024 Bezos Courage and Citizenship Award)
In a statement, McRaven said he wants to use the donation to focus on three areas: the education of children of deceased veterans, particularly in the special operations community; veterans’ mental health and brain function; and helps develop future military leaders through education.
McRaven and his wife sit on the board of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. He also serves as a national spokesperson for the Brain Health Project, which focuses on brain health and functioning with a focus on veterans.
“The opportunity to use this wonderful gift to help veterans and their families has been a lifelong dream, and I am so grateful to Lauren and Jeff for giving me this opportunity,” McRaven said in a statement to CNN.
Longoria, who starred in the television series “Desperate Housewives,” has focused on education and entrepreneurship in Latino communities. The Eva Longoria Foundation aims to connect Latinos and Latinas in low-income areas with mentors, and Longoria funds Latino-owned small business startups.
“Of course, I’m personally honored and excited, but I think I’m even more excited about the impact we can have on this country by investing in the strength of the Latino community,” Longoria told CNN. “Latinos in the United States are a fast-growing group with extraordinary potential, but we disproportionately lack infrastructure opportunity, and I’m excited to invest in that opportunity.”
In 2022, Bezos told CNN that he plans to give away most of his wealth during his lifetime, focusing on climate change and supporting people who can unite humanity.
However, neither Bezos nor Sanchez signed the Giving Pledge, a commitment by the world’s richest people to donate most of their wealth to charitable causes. The pledge was made by Warren Buffett, Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates, and among the signatories is Mackenzie Scott, who helped create tech giant Amazon with her then-husband Bezos and who has donated billions of dollars of his fortune.
Bezos and Sanchez pledged $100 million to recovery efforts on Maui following the devastating 2023 wildfires, though the donation has come under scrutiny. Bezos has also given hundreds of millions of dollars to dozens of beneficiaries through his Day 1 Families Fund initiative, which he launched in 2018, including a $2 billion commitment to fight homelessness and start preschools.
