"Bezos Earth Fund" Structured As An LLC; That (Surprise!) Lets It Avoid Public Filing Of Tax Docs

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos quietly created a new company to help execute his $10 billion pledge to combat climate change, Recode has learned, offering a clue into the plan known as the Bezos Earth Fund, which has been shrouded in secrecy since it was announced half a year ago. Bezos’s team has started a new limited liability company, Fellowship Ventures LLC, that appears to be involved in the historic philanthropic commitment, according to public records reviewed by Recode. That LLC applied for the trademark — with Bezos’s hand-signed authorization — for the “Bezos Earth Fund” in July, a move that suggests the LLC will be key to his plans, or perhaps even run the charitable program outright.

The creation of the company is the first glimpse into the most serious philanthropic play yet by the world’s richest man, even as other details remain hidden. Bezos aides have consistently declined to share any information about his climate change giving — including basic questions about how it will be structured — since it was first announced in February.

The details are essential because the $10 billion pledge, one of the largest individual charitable commitments ever, is expected to remake the world of climate change philanthropy. Questions abound: Will Bezos use any of the $10 billion to make donations to pro-climate-science political candidates or advocacy groups? Over what time period will Bezos give the money away? And what type of disclosures will Bezos share with academics, researchers, and reporters about where the money goes?

If Bezos does plan to use this LLC to make the donations, it would limit transparency into the Earth Fund as LLCs are not required to file publicly available tax documents. Trademark experts tell Recode that it’s also possible, however, for the LLC to merely end up owning the trademark to the “Bezos Earth Fund” name and then lend that trademark to another to-be-created Bezos entity that may be structured in a more transparent way, such as a traditional foundation.

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https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/8/7/21356389/jeff-bezos-fellowship-ventures-earth-fund-climate-change