Lauren Sánchez Bezos steps up role as Earth Fund faces 2030 deadline

Jeff Bezos’s $10 billion climate pledge is entering a faster-spending phase as its 2030 deadline draws closer. According to the Bezos Earth Fund, about $2.4 billion has been deployed so far, leaving roughly $7 billion still to be distributed.

Fortune reported that Lauren Sánchez Bezos, who married Bezos last summer, has become a more public figure in the couple’s giving through her role as vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund. The fund describes Bezos’s 2020 commitment as the largest individual philanthropic pledge for climate and nature.

Sánchez Bezos has held the vice chair role since the fund’s early period, according to Fortune. She is also an author, founder, helicopter pilot and Emmy-winning journalist, Fortune reported.

Recent grants put Sánchez Bezos in front

In September 2025, Sánchez Bezos announced $37.5 million in grants for marine protection work across 12 Pacific Island nations and territories, according to the Bezos Earth Fund. The grants are part of a $100 million commitment tied to ocean conservation, the fund said.

The next month, the Bezos Earth Fund announced $30 million in Phase II awards through its AI Grand Challenge for Climate and Nature. The program commits up to $100 million to projects using artificial intelligence for environmental work, according to the fund.

The fund’s wider portfolio includes $1 billion for food and agriculture systems, according to the Bezos Earth Fund. It also includes $100 million to the World Wildlife Fund for nature-based climate work, $110 million for habitat restoration and climate science, a $4.8 million partnership with the Earthshot Prize to support 48 climate innovation projects, and a $3.5 million grant announced in February for nuclear energy deployment, according to the organizations and announcements cited by Fortune.

Leadership change as the clock runs

The Bezos Earth Fund is also changing its management as it works toward the 2030 spend-down date. CNBC reported in July 2025 that Bezos named former Amazon Alexa executive Tom Taylor as the fund’s chief executive.

Taylor replaced Andrew Steer, who had led the organization since 2021 after running an environmental think tank, according to Fortune. Fortune reported that the move pointed to a greater focus on operations as the fund works through the remaining pledge.

The couple’s giving also extends beyond climate. In December, Sánchez Bezos announced a $102.5 million commitment to groups addressing homelessness in the United States, Fortune reported. That money is part of the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund, which Fortune said has donated more than $850 million to organizations in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam.

The Day 1 Families Fund was founded in 2018 with a $2 billion commitment to back nonprofits serving families experiencing homelessness and to create tuition-free preschools in under-resourced communities, according to Fortune. Weeks after the homelessness announcement, Fortune reported, Bezos and Sánchez Bezos gave a $5 million grant and the Bezos Courage & Civility Award to David Flink, founder of the Neurodiversity Alliance.

Comparisons with other billionaire giving

Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index estimates Bezos’s net worth at $266 billion, ranking him fourth in the world, Fortune reported. Forbes estimates the couple’s lifetime charitable giving at about $4.7 billion, or less than 2% of Bezos’s net worth, according to Fortune.

Fortune compared that record with MacKenzie Scott, Bezos’s former wife, who has donated $26 billion over the past five years. Bloomberg estimates Scott’s current net worth at $35.4 billion, Fortune reported.

Fortune reported that Scott gave $7.2 billion in 2025 alone, more than Forbes’s estimate of Bezos’s lifetime charitable contributions. Scott has signed the Giving Pledge, while Bezos has not, according to Fortune.

In a 2022 CNN interview, Bezos said he planned to give away most of his wealth during his lifetime and said philanthropy is difficult to do well. CNN quoted him saying that building Amazon was hard and that he was finding charity and philanthropy to be similar.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.