Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez have pledged to create a $100 million fund to help the island recover from catastrophic wildfires.
Sanchez, an American media personality, announced the creation of the Maui Fund in a recent Instagram post, saying that she was "heartbroken by what's happening."
The money will be used to "help get Maui back on its feet now and over the coming years as the continuing needs reveal themselves," she wrote.
Hawaii Governor Josh Green described the fires as the "largest natural disaster" that Hawaii had ever faced, per the AP. The report says that the destruction and losses caused by the fire will cost around $6 billion.
In 2021, Jeff Bezos bought a 14-acre property in La Perouse Bay, on the south coast of Maui.
The home cost the couple an estimated $78 million and broke records for being the most expensive property ever sold on the Hawaiian island, according to Architectural Digest.
The secluded island is popular with other tech billionaires and celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey and Peter Thiel. Winfrey has been volunteering in Maui, handing out supplies at the war memorial stadium, the BBC reported.
Bezos has an estimated net worth of $163 billion, per Bloomberg's Billionaires Index. He pledged in November to give away most of his fortune.
That same month, the billionaire said he would give Dolly Parton $100 million to donate to a charity of her choice after she won his Courage and Civility award.
He also gave organizations that fight homelessness 40 grants worth $123 million in November, per Fortune.
