While not quite in the $6.25 billion class that Michael and Susan Dell splashed on Giving Tuesday, you do what you can.
From Washingtonian, December 1:
Bezos Donates $11.25 Million to Fight Homelessness in DC Area
Can the donation make a dent in the region’s housing crisis?
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos have donated $11.25 million to fight homelessness in the Washington, DC, area through their Bezos Day 1 Fund, which earlier today announced the recipients of its annual leadership awards to “organizations doing compassionate, needle-moving work to help families experiencing homelessness.”
In our region, Community Crisis Services, Friendship Place, Harford Family House, and Lifestyles of Maryland each received a share of a larger $102.5 million fund allocated to this year’s cohort of organizations nationwide.
“This gift is for the thousands of families who sleep on our streets each night, enduring the cold with nowhere to turn,” Sandy Washington, CEO of LifeStyles of Maryland—awarded $2.5 million—said in a press release. “This donation is a testament to the devotion that has carried us through late nights, tears, countless volunteer hours, community partnerships, and unwavering service.” LifeStyles of Maryland supports families in Southern Maryland, and plans to use the grant to help families move out of crisis and find pathways to sustainable housing.
But can $11.25 million make a dent in the region’s struggle with homelessness?
“God, I hope so. The housing affordability issue is enormous. The DMV is a very expensive area to live in,” said Timothy R. Jansen, CEO of Community Crisis Services, which was awarded $5 million, the largest grant made by the Bezos Day 1 Fund to a DMV charity this year, and the largest in the organization’s history. “We work one household at a time, but, yeah, I think it can make a good dent. It’s not going to solve it, although I wish it could, but it’s going to make some significant differences.” For context, Jansen told us the organization typically has an operating budget of around $14 million, and “We tend to spend pretty close to the margin.”....
....MUCH MORE
Like a Colossus bestriding...
...actually you probably don't want to be bestriding the Washington Monument, it looks rather pointy. Plus, what are you going to tell the emergency room doctors? "Uh, I slipped..."
The pic is from a 2018 Washingtonian article, Inside Jeff Bezos’ DC Life:
The Amazon founder and Washington Post owner has quietly become a freewheeling DC socialite—and soon he'll be spending more time here, in the mammoth Kalorama home his family is renovating. What brought the tech giant to town in the first place? And what does he do, exactly, while he's around? The story of how the world's richest man is becoming a Washingtonian.
Late one drizzly night this past January, Jeff Bezos strode through the front door of the Jefferson hotel, burnished from an evening spent consorting with the Washington power set and smiling in plain view. This year, the Amazon founder, who is worth more than $110 billion, became the richest person alive. Here at the Jefferson, around 11:30 pm on a Saturday, a flicker of his unstudied private life appeared....
If interested see also:
- "How does the world’s richest man renovate? Floor plans reveal Jeff Bezos’ big ideas for $23M D.C. mansion"
- Jeff Bezos Letter to Amazon Shareholders (including 1st disclosure of Amazon Prime membership #'s and perfect handstands)
- "Jeff Bezos Gave a Sneak Peek Into Amazon’s Future" (AMZN)
- Cloud Computing: The Pentagon Is Going To Award a Contract Worth Up to $10 Billion, Amazon Wants It, So Does Google (AMZN, GOOG)
- Jeff Bezos Will Probably Consolidate His Power Bases In The Washington D.C. Area (AMZN)
...Additionally the new location is (relatively) near CIA headquarters which is handy as Amazon is becoming quite the little spy contractor.
Also at Business Insider, Nov. 2017:
Amazon is launching a 'Secret' cloud service for the CIA
- Amazon Web Services introduced Secret Region, a new service specifically for the CIA and the rest of the intelligence community.
- It's not really a secret service: It's name just indicates it can handle data that's been classified at the "secret" level.
- Amazon has offered the CIA a Top Secret Region since 2014 as part of a $600 million deal.
- The extension of that older CIA deal with this new Secret service underlines the market dominance of AWS.
And, as noted on the map above, the possible location is also conveniently close to Mr. Bezos' house, although in his case the choice is not as clear-cut as when then-head of supercomputer manufacturer Cray Research when asked where the company might relocate its headquarters answered: "Draw a circle with a twenty mile radius around the CEO's home."
Mr. Bezos owns five houses and300,000400,000 acres in Texas.
That gets us back to March 31, 2018. For More, or for AMZN, use the 'search blog' box, top left.
August 2013 - UPDATED--"Jeff Bezos Has Acquired The Washington Post For $250 Million" (AMZN; BRK.b; WPO)
Finally, Architectural Digest, May 2025:
"Jeff Bezos’s Homes: Unpacking the Billionaire’s More Than $500 Million Property Portfolio"
