Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife MacKenzie Scott gives away $1.7B of her wealth to social causes

Novelist and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott recently said that she has donated close to $1.7 billion of her wealth to groups devoted to race, gender, and economic equality, as well as other social causes. 

Last year, the ex-wife of AmazonFounder Jeff Bezos had signed the ‘Giving Pledge’ initiative to bestow a majority of her wealth to charities. 

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Launched by Microsoftfounder and philanthropist Bill Gates and billionaire investor Warren Buffet to spur some of the world’s richest individuals to contribute to social initiatives, the Giving Pledge oath was signed by over 200 people from 24 countries.

Scott kept her word by contributing to over a hundred non-profit organisations, working towards racial and gender equity, public health, economic mobility, and environmental sustainability. 

Announcing her decision as part of a Medium post, Scott, who went by the name MacKenzie Bezos before her divorce, said, 

“Last year, I pledged to give the majority of my wealth back to the society that helped generate it, to do it thoughtfully, to get started soon, and to keep at it until the safe is empty. There’s no question in my mind that anyone’s personal wealth is the product of a collective effort, and of social structures which present opportunities to some people, and obstacles to countless others.” 

The 50-year-old has requested the NGOs to spend her contribution on whatever they believe best serves their endeavour. A majority of Scott’s charity went to groups dedicated to racial equity, which received a little over $586 million. 

“I asked a team of non-profit advisors with key representation from the historically marginalised race, gender, and sexual identity groups to help me find and assess organisations having a major impact on a variety of causes,” she added in the post. 

Presently, Scott’s net worth is known to be more than $60 billion. After her divorce with Jeff Bezos, she received a quarter of his holdings in Amazon and became one of the top five richest women in the world.