In a post on Medium, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott revealed quietly that she had donated $3,863,125,000 to 465 non-profits since June “converting [it] into meaningful services for others”.
The ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, Executive Chairman of Amazon, explained that she had focussed on “support[ing] the needs of underrepresented people from groups of all kinds”. The recipients include Boys and Girls Clubs across the US; CARE for their relief efforts in Ukraine; and the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa.
Scott is a signatory of The Giving Pledge, which was created in August 2020 by Warren Buffett, Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates. Signatories commit to giving away the majority of their wealth “to address some of society’s most pressing problems”.
Scott joined in May 2019 and wrote at the time: “In addition to whatever assets life has nurtured in me, I have a disproportionate amount of money to share. My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful. It will take time and effort and care. But I won’t wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty.” Forbes estimated her wealth in December 2021 to be around $59.2 billion.
Scott is a famously private person. She has not given any interviews to the press since her divorce from Besos and has also often been candid about where her money has been donated. She wrote on Medium: “I want to let each of these incredible teams speak for themselves first if they choose to, with the hope that when they do, the media focuses on their contributions instead of mine.”
She added the hope that everyday contributions from all people would be recognised more and encouraged others to support causes including the ones she had donated to. She stated: “If you are looking for a way to serve humanity’s common cause, every one of them is a great candidate. Helping any of us can help us all.”
