Jeff Bezos honors late John Lewis with $100 million gift to Obama foundation
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is donating $100 million to former President Barack Obama’s private foundation in honor of the late John Lewis.
The Obama Foundation confirmed the gift on Monday, the largest in its history, just days after Bezos, one of the world’s richest people, announced grants totaling $96.2 million to groups working to end family homelessness, The New York Times reported.
Lewis, a 17-time congressman and civil rights icon, died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 80 in 2020.
>> Related: US Rep. John Lewis, iconic civil rights leader, dead at 80
As part of the gift, Bezos has asked that the plaza at the Obama Presidential Center be named the John Lewis Plaza, the foundation said in a statement.
“Freedom fighters deserve a special place in the pantheon of heroes, and I can’t think of a more fitting person to honor with this gift than John Lewis,” Bezos said in the statement.
The center, which is under construction in Chicago, will include Obama’s presidential library, a museum and an athletic center, among other amenities, the Times reported.
