[rad-green] Cutting Health Benefits of 1,900 Whole Food Workers Saved World's Richest Man Jeff Bezos What He Makes in Less Than Six Hours

*https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/09/17/cutting-health-benefits-1900-whole-food-workers-saved-worlds-richest-man-jeff-bezos
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/09/17/cutting-health-benefits-1900-whole-food-workers-saved-worlds-richest-man-jeff-bezos>Common
Dreams          September 17, 2019Cutting Health Benefits of 1,900 Whole
Food Workers Saved World's Richest Man Jeff Bezos What He Makes in Less
Than Six HoursA new analysis finds that the billionaire could provide
annual coverage slashed last week with just a fraction of what he makes
personally each day.by Eoin Higgins, staff writer*

[image: Billionaire Jeff Bezos makes between $4.5 million and $9 million an
hour.]

*Billionaire Jeff Bezos makes between $4.5 million and $9 million an
hour. (Photo: Getty Images)*

When billionaire Jeff Bezos cut health benefits on September 13 for
part-time workers at his grocery store Whole Foods the richest man in the
world saved the equivalent of what he makes from his vast fortune in just a
few hours.

That's according to an analysis from Decision Data's "Data in the News"
series, which found
<https://decisiondata.org/news/jeff-bezos-makes-enough-money-in-4-5-hours-to-pay-for-every-part-time-whole-foods-market-employees-healthcare-benefits-every-year/>
that
Bezos could cover the entirety of annual benefits for part-time employees
who work less than 30 hours a week with what he makes from stocks and
investments in just a fraction of a day.

"Doing a quick calculation with existing publicly available numbers shows
that Bezos makes more money than the cost of an entire year of benefits for
these 1,900 employees in somewhere between 2-6 hours," the study says.

The analysis used an estimate that Whole Foods would contribute between
$5,000 and $15,000 annually per employee for benefits. At the middle of
that range, $10,000, that comes to $19 million a year.

Bezos makes just under $9 million an hour, according to
<https://www.businessinsider.com/what-amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-makes-every-day-hour-minute-2018-10>
a
2019 *Business Insider *analysis, which would mean he makes enough money in
a little over two hours to cover the benefits he cut. Decision Data used an
earlier study which found
<https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-money-billionaires-celebrities-make-per-hour-2018-8>
Bezos
makes $4.5 million an hour to conclude he would need approximately four and
a half hours to cover the cost.

"CEO worth more than $110 billion cuts health care for 2,000 workers after
raking in $9 million an hour," tweeted
<https://twitter.com/RBReich/status/1173766596134764544> economist Robert
Reich, citing the 2019 *Business Insider *figure.

The disconnect between Bezos' wealth and the cost of the benefits was
remarked on by a number of observers.

"Jeff Bezos makes $3,182 a second," said
<https://twitter.com/LukewSavage/status/1173257618774773760> *Jacobin* writer
Luke Savage.

Presidential candidate and former Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development Julián Castro called the move "shameful" and noted that Bezos'
crown jewel, online retailer Amazon, pays nothing in taxes.

"Amazon pays zero dollars in federal income taxes," Castro tweeted. "Jeff
Bezos is the richest man in modern history, and yet they continue to
degrade the rights of their workers."

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