Jeff Bezos in navy shirt and blue jeans

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Twitter account asks, ‘Has Jeff Bezos Decided To End World Hunger?’

He could still be the richest person in the world...

 

David Britton

Internet Culture

Posted on Jul 29, 2019   Updated on May 20, 2021, 7:49 am CDT

It seems like a simple formula. Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon, has a net worth of $165.6 billion. According to a 2008 estimate by Jacques Diouf, head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, it would cost $30 billion a year to end world hunger. Therefore, Jeff Bezos could end world hunger for a year and still be the richest person in the world. In fact, given that cost would probably go down over time, Bezos could probably end world hunger for the foreseeable future and still be a billionaire.

That’s the premise behind the new Twitter account with the display name, “Has Jeff Bezos Decided To End World Hunger?

In Body Image
@HasBezosDecided/Twitter

The account @HasBezosDecided has only been active since July 21 but has already gained over 25,000 followers. It features a lot of memes about Bezos choosing not to end world hunger.

But there’s a fair amount of economic theory as well. The current pinned tweet is a thread containing a simple explanation of the well known “profit is theft” concept.

Obviously, the account has inspired a lot of debate.

https://twitter.com/eyeeatbooks/status/1155826890394996739

Bezos, like most billionaires, does donate a certain amount of money to charity every year, but even with last year’s $2-billion launch of the “Bezos Day One Fund,” it still makes up a very small percentage of his total fortune. A fortune which, by some reports, is built on the backs of exploited employees.

It’s also important to point out that the $30-billion figure is heavily disputed. The actual cost of solving the global food crisis is incredibly difficult to calculate, but no one doubts that the money, and therefore Bezos, could make a huge difference. The question is, what will he choose to do so?

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*First Published: Jul 29, 2019, 1:50 pm CDT