what'd he do with the money?
Van Jones gets 100 million $ bag from Jeff Bezos “ do whatever you want with it”
- Thread starter Legalese
- Start date
Was asking myself the same recently. Apparently, nothing just yet.
Van Jones on His New Podcast in Partnership With Amazon Music (businessinsider.com)
[Laughs]. You know, I was blown away that Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez decided to create this new award in the first place, and then to have me be one of the first two recipients. Over the past 30 days, since we've only had the grant for 30 days, I've been in very deep conversation and dialogue with experts across a whole range of different fields of endeavor. And we have a 10-year horizon to figure out how to invest and distribute the funds. But look, here's the thing. I've always been fighting for the same basic causes. I've been trying to disrupt prisons and pollution and poverty for my whole career. But I've never had enough philanthropic capital to put behind my ideas or the solutions that I think are most promising.
And so now that's different. It's a crazy experience to go from being somebody who's been asking for grants for 30 years to being somebody who is in a position to invest philanthropically. We'll have announcements to make in 2022, but I am taking my time. I'm not in a rush. You know, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We call this "the miracle money," and I want every penny to make a miracle. That's the standard. If I can 10x the impact, I want to be able to do that. So, every penny needs to make a miracle. And that's what we're focused on. By the way, the very first episode of the podcast, José Andrés and I talk about, in more depth and detail, what the experience is like. If anybody's interested in how the first two recipients of this award are thinking about it, should definitely check out episode one of the podcast.
ThrobbingHood
“I’m Sorry for 2025”
PAWG spelt backwards is GWAP!!! 
PAWG in prosperity Van Jones.
PAWG in prosperity Van Jones.
Dafunkdoc_Unlimited
Theological Noncognitivist Since Birth
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Tax write-off + social engineering.
Bezos is conducting an experiment under the guise of philanthropy.
ALL billionaires do the same thing.
Bezos is conducting an experiment under the guise of philanthropy.
ALL billionaires do the same thing.
Got his pawg on 
Formerly Black Trash
Philosopher, Connoisseur, Future Legend
Got his pawg on
She bad
If Van Jones isn’t a billionaire in 5 years
This is a social experiment.
Choose an educated black man and watch how he spends the money …
Van is either going to make us all proud or this will be used against the race …
This is a social experiment.
Choose an educated black man and watch how he spends the money …
Van is either going to make us all proud or this will be used against the race …
get these nets
Veteran
Interested to see what he decides to do with the money. With those kinds of funds, there's a lot of pressure on him. Meaning, he's been proposing, advocating for, citing studies, theorizing about solutions to problems for years. That's an easy business to be in. People have lucrative careers on the lecture circuit and at think tanks doing this.
Putting these theories and programs into practice and addressing/solving these problems is difficult. Even with all that money. Pressure is on now.
This ain't a
What in the Booker T Washington is this shyt batman?
Got his pawg on
So basically a gay man had a kid with a chick
van's been real quiet all year 
Kingofthereal
King of kings
Lol still don’t know what that nikka did with all that money
what money
White supremacy always breaks its tools
www.thedailybeast.com
Two years ago, facing a sea of reporters, Jeff Bezos praised Van Jones as an extraordinary philanthropic leader, handing the CNN commentator a $100 million blank check to distribute as he saw fit. Bezos had just completed his first suborbital rocket flight and, feeling plucky, had dressed as a space cowboy, forcing Jones to duck beneath his expansive hat as the two men embraced.
Jones looked down, his eyes seemingly misty. “Sometimes, dreams come true,” he said.
Since then, the mist has lifted. This summer, Jones left the board of one of his principal nonprofits, Dream.org, after tussling with the group’s leadership over its direction, multiple sources with ties to the organization told The Daily Beast. According to a person with direct knowledge of the situation, he did not leave by choice.
Jeff Bezos hugs Van Jones after announcing a $100 million award for his projects.
The turmoil has not affected just Jones, nine former employees said. One Dream subsidiary, an environmental advocacy initiative called Green For All, separately received a three-year, $10 million grant from Bezos’ climate fund in 2020. The group tore through that money with little to show for it, several ex-employees said. Bezos’ nonprofit has not renewed the grant. Meanwhile, Dream has laid off multiple staffers.
“Quite a few people have questions about the fiscal stewardship that Dream.org has had,” said CeCe Grant, who worked for Dream for more than two years, most recently as director of government affairs until April.
Asked about Jones’ status with Dream.Org, his spokesperson and a spokesperson for the group did not deny that he had been ousted from the board and instead provided vague statements.
Jones’ spokesperson said: “Van continues to work with Dream.Org in the justice innovation space and beyond. He is a proud supporter of their work at every level. With Dream.Org’s support, he is working to launch a new, complementary initiative, which will be announced soon.”
A spokesperson for Dream said Jones stopped running day-to-day affairs in 2019 but “has continued to be a valuable resource for us, and we’re excited to support the launch of his forthcoming initiative.”
Bezos’ charitable fund did not respond to a request for comment.
Jones, 54, is best known for his appearances on CNN, but he is equally prolific off screen. He co-founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, which partly focuses on police brutality, and served as founding CEO of REFORM, which is working to reshape America’s approach to prison sentencing.
Dream.org is composed of three separate initiatives: Green For All; a program to increase diversity in the tech industry; and a criminal justice policy group. Jones once served as Dream’s president—after he handed off day-to-day affairs in 2019, he remained a board member until his June exit, former employees said. (He is still listed as a board member on the Dream website, but neither his spokesperson nor the group would comment on why that is.)
To Jones’ critics, his body of work is not entirely laudable. “He can’t stay at anything for longer than a few years before passing it off,” one former employee said. Another echoed that sentiment, arguing that Jones has a habit of “moving on to the next thing, and possibly not creating the best infrastructure before he leaves.”
Van Jones, Bezos’ $100M Man, Pushed Out of His Non-Profit
The CNN commentator—who was given a mountain of cash by the Amazon founder to distribute—says he is now launching a new initiative.
Van Jones, Bezos’ $100M Man, Pushed Out of His Own Non-Profit
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty
Two years ago, facing a sea of reporters, Jeff Bezos praised Van Jones as an extraordinary philanthropic leader, handing the CNN commentator a $100 million blank check to distribute as he saw fit. Bezos had just completed his first suborbital rocket flight and, feeling plucky, had dressed as a space cowboy, forcing Jones to duck beneath his expansive hat as the two men embraced.
Jones looked down, his eyes seemingly misty. “Sometimes, dreams come true,” he said.
Since then, the mist has lifted. This summer, Jones left the board of one of his principal nonprofits, Dream.org, after tussling with the group’s leadership over its direction, multiple sources with ties to the organization told The Daily Beast. According to a person with direct knowledge of the situation, he did not leave by choice.
Jeff Bezos hugs Van Jones after announcing a $100 million award for his projects.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The turmoil has not affected just Jones, nine former employees said. One Dream subsidiary, an environmental advocacy initiative called Green For All, separately received a three-year, $10 million grant from Bezos’ climate fund in 2020. The group tore through that money with little to show for it, several ex-employees said. Bezos’ nonprofit has not renewed the grant. Meanwhile, Dream has laid off multiple staffers.
“Quite a few people have questions about the fiscal stewardship that Dream.org has had,” said CeCe Grant, who worked for Dream for more than two years, most recently as director of government affairs until April.
Asked about Jones’ status with Dream.Org, his spokesperson and a spokesperson for the group did not deny that he had been ousted from the board and instead provided vague statements.
Jones’ spokesperson said: “Van continues to work with Dream.Org in the justice innovation space and beyond. He is a proud supporter of their work at every level. With Dream.Org’s support, he is working to launch a new, complementary initiative, which will be announced soon.”
A spokesperson for Dream said Jones stopped running day-to-day affairs in 2019 but “has continued to be a valuable resource for us, and we’re excited to support the launch of his forthcoming initiative.”
Bezos’ charitable fund did not respond to a request for comment.
Jones, 54, is best known for his appearances on CNN, but he is equally prolific off screen. He co-founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, which partly focuses on police brutality, and served as founding CEO of REFORM, which is working to reshape America’s approach to prison sentencing.
Dream.org is composed of three separate initiatives: Green For All; a program to increase diversity in the tech industry; and a criminal justice policy group. Jones once served as Dream’s president—after he handed off day-to-day affairs in 2019, he remained a board member until his June exit, former employees said. (He is still listed as a board member on the Dream website, but neither his spokesperson nor the group would comment on why that is.)
To Jones’ critics, his body of work is not entirely laudable. “He can’t stay at anything for longer than a few years before passing it off,” one former employee said. Another echoed that sentiment, arguing that Jones has a habit of “moving on to the next thing, and possibly not creating the best infrastructure before he leaves.”
