MacKenzie Scott, one of the richest women on the world, and her husband Dan Jewett, gave $2.74 billion to organizations that focus on the arts and combating racial discrimination.
The settlement from Scott’s 2019 separation from her past husband, Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos, made her probably the most richest people on the world. She and Bezos were married for 25 years.
At $193.5 billion, Bezos is at present the world’s’ wealthiest person, and Scott’s fortune is valued at about $59 billion, as per Forbes. She married Jewett in March.
In May 2019, in no time before her divorce to Bezos was final, Scott joined The Giving Pledge, a mission made by Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Melinda Gates that encourages extremely wealthy people to contribute a dominant part of their wealth to philanthropic causes.
Jewett, as well, committed to the pledge in the wake of marrying Scott. “It is strange to be writing a letter indicating I plan to give away the majority of my wealth during my lifetime, as I have never sought to gather the kind of wealth required to feel like saying such a thing would have particular meaning,” he said on the vow’s site.
Scott’s total assets has taken off as Amazon’s stock surged during the pandemic. In July 2020, she reported that she had parted with $1.7 billion of her fortune to 116 associations to “areas of need” including racial equity, LGBTQ+ equity, functional democracy and climate change. What’s more, in December, Scott declared that she gave another $4.2 billion to 384 organizations.
This latest donation brings her givings to more than $8.5 billion worth of gifts in under a year.
In a blog post, Scott listed the 286 associations she gave to most as of late, which are “high-impact organizations in categories and communities that have been historically underfunded and overlooked,” she said.
The list includes the Racial Equity for Journalism Fund, the Asian American Federation, the Emerging LGBTQ Leaders of Color Fund and the National Equity Project.
In her blog post, Scott said she wants to “de-emphasize privileged voices” and “cede focus” to others. “People struggling against inequities deserve center stage in stories about change they are creating,” she said. “Me, Dan, a constellation of researchers and administrators and advisors — we are all attempting to give away a fortune that was enabled by systems in need of change.”