BEZOS FAMILY DONATES $710M TO FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER

The Bezos Family Foundation announced a $710 million gift to the Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, the largest gift the center has ever received and one of the largest to go to any single cancer research organization in recent years.

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The donation will fund 36 new research labs, the building of a large research facility, investments in clinical trial infrastructure and immunotherapy research over ten years, the center said Wednesday.

Thomas Lynch, president and director of the center, rebranded this month as Fred Hutch, but widely known as The Hutch, said he worked with Mike and Jackie Bezos to understand what motivated their giving. Jackie Bezos is the mother of Amazon founder JeffBezos, while her husband, Mike, is JeffBezos’ stepfather. Jeff Bezos, the world’s second wealthiest person, stepped down from his role as CEO of Amazon in July 2021.

Lynch learned the Bezos family deeply valued collaboration in research and treatment.

“But don’t underestimate the importance of urgency,” Lynch said in an interview. “Because I think that’s something that I feel passionately about and I know that Mike and Jackie feel passionately about being able to bring cures to patients soon.”