Amazon's Jeff Bezos can and should do a lot more with his wealth - for the benefit of current and future generations

Chicago

JEFF Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is one of the most successful businessmen of all time. He has amassed an unfathomable fortune, reportedly US$131 billion. This presents a predicament. Mr Bezos commands far more money than any one person could possibly spend, far more than any one family dynasty could possibly spend. What should he do with all this money?

Unfortunately, Mr Bezos appears to have come up with a terrible response.

"The only way that I can see to deploy this much financial resource is by converting my Amazon winnings into space travel," he said in a recent interview. He has founded a company called Blue Origin that builds reusable rockets. He wants to send tourists into space and envisions a future in which heavy industry - and millions of workers - will be based out there. Mr Bezos called Blue Origin "incredibly important for civilisation (in the) long term". How much does Mr Bezos…