MacKenzie Scott donates $5.9b of divorce cash to charities
MacKenzie Scott, the former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has given away US$4.2 billion (NZ$5.9b) of her newly found fortune in an eye-catching display of philanthropy.
Scott, who became one of the richest women in the world following the settlement of the pair’s divorce last year, said she had donated the money to 384 organisations across America.
Many of the charities and institutions she helped are tackling the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. Others are campaigning for civil rights or fighting long-term problems like homelessness.
The gifts, given out over the past four months, amount to one of the biggest known donation drives by an individual in recent history, in terms of cash value.
The Gates Foundation – one of the world’s largest charities, which is funded by Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder, and Warren Buffett, the investor – gave away US$5.1 billion in 2019.
Announcing the figure in an article on Medium, the online publishing platform, Scott said she had accelerated her giving as the scale of the economic impact of Covid-19 became clear.
‘‘This pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling,’’ Scott wrote.
‘‘Economic losses and health outcomes alike have been worse for women, for people of colour, and for people living in poverty. Meanwhile, it has substantially increased the wealth of billionaires.’’
Scott, an author, also quoted Emily Dickinson, the 19th century American poet who was considered an eccentric in her time and wrote much of her work in isolation from her bedroom. The
Medium post included the lines: ‘‘‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers; that perches in the soul; And sings the song without the words; And never stops – at all.’’
Scott was married to Bezos, who launched the online retail giant Amazon from his garage in Seattle, for 26 years. They have four children.
They announced their separation last year around the time a magazine report of Bezos entering a relationship with another woman was published.
Scott received 4 per cent of the outstanding stock in Amazon from the settlement. It was valued at US$38 billion but has now risen to around US$62 billion.
Among the organisations supported by Scott, 50, are wellknown names such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and 100 branches of YMCA and YWCA. Food banks, academic institutions and community groups also benefited.
The exact amounts that went to each were not published, but an indication of the figures involved came from Morgan State University in Baltimore, which said it had received US$40 million.
The university said it was the largest single private donation in its history and called the gift ‘‘generous and transformative’’.
Scott described how some charity employees burst into tears when they were told of the donations, adding: ‘‘Their stories and tears invariably made me and my team-mates cry.’’
Her latest giveaway is in addition to the US$1.7 billion she announced she had donated in July.