Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — the second-richest person on the planet, according to Forbes — is already a controversial figure. And he just angered many more people by casually adding a sprawling $90 million megamansion to his portfolio.
One Redditor posted about the purchase, explaining in the r/Miami community that this latest purchase is his third multimillion-dollar mansion in Florida alone. According to Business Insider, Bezos owns over 20 properties around the United States, totaling nearly half a million acres and making him the 25th-largest property owner in the country.
This pattern has angered many people, who view the excessive purchasing as both a symptom and a driver of consumerism-obsessed culture. In turn, companies manufacture cheaply made products to fuel shopping sprees, but many of those products quickly end up in landfills — or in the ocean.
"If I recall, he has a massive yacht and a support vessel for that yacht," one person commented. "So this guy can waste money like very few others."
People were similarly outraged by Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, who recently purchased a multimillion-dollar yacht for his collection. Billionaires like Zuckerberg and Bezos often claim to hold pro-environment, anti-pollution goals, but they also utilize their wealth for highly unnecessary, egregiously expensive private purchases that — even if considered an investment on some level — do not always end up being used frequently and require resources for maintenance.
In fact, Amazon has faced accusations of being harmful to the environment, through contributing to mass consumerism, waste generation via manufacturing and packaging, and shipping pollution. The investigative outlet Reveal reported in 2022 that the company severely under-reports its own pollution numbers, failing to assume climate responsibility for many of the products it sells — avoiding accounting methods that are standard practice at other big retailers.
Bezos and Amazon have set lofty goals and moved the needle in some key ways for Amazon's new sustainability pollution targets, such as plastic reduction and electric delivery trucks, and the Bezos Earth Fund has allocated millions for eco-friendly initiatives. But the company has reportedly also fallen short at times.
According to the New Climate Institute's "Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2024," Amazon is still not doing enough to commit to its emissions goals, falling below median commitments among the 51 major companies assessed.
Some ways to consume responsibly include reusing and upcycling, seeking out local thrift shops, joining local gifting communities like the Buy Nothing Project, and supporting circular brands. Pausing before you buy new — or buy at all, as Bezos seemingly doesn't do often enough — will likely leave you with extra cash at the end of the year, too.
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