MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has revealed she has donated $4.2bn to frontline charities helping in the pandemic in four months.
The world’s 18th-richest person outlined the latest contributions in a blog post, saying she asked her team to figure out how to give away her fortune faster. Scott’s wealth has climbed from $23.6 billion at the beginning of 2020 to $60.7 billion in December, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as Amazon.com Inc., the primary source of her fortune, has surged.
“This pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling,” she wrote in the post on Medium.
“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.”
- US tech stocks surge in “growth showing no sign of slowing”
- EU regulators hits Amazon with antitrust charges
Melissa Berman, Chief Executive Officer of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors ascertains that Scott’s gifts this year approach $6 billion, which “has to be one of the biggest annual distributions by a living individual” to working charities.
Berman said Scott’s donations show that it’s possible to give large amounts quickly without requiring non-profits to “jump through a lot of hoops to get the money.” The size of Scott’s gifts also disprove a common theory that’s it’s hard to deploy vast amounts of money without running into trouble or proving wasteful.
Scott’s advisers settled on 384 groups to receive gifts, she said in the post, after considering almost 6,500 organizations. Donations were focused on those “operating in communities facing high projected food insecurity, high measures of racial inequity, high local poverty rates, and low access to philanthropic capital.”
Recipients include more than 30 institutions of higher education, including several tribal colleges and historically Black colleges and universities. More than 40 food banks received money, as did almost four dozen local affiliates of Goodwill Industries International.
Scott King, the Executive Director for Meals on Wheels of Tampa, said he didn’t even apply for the grant they received. Instead, her team contacted the non-profit, which delivers food to about 850 homes and makes about 2,600 meals each day.
“This comes at a great time for us,” he said. “There are areas in and around Tampa that aren’t being served and need to be.”
Betsy Biemann, CEO of Maine-based Coastal Enterprises Inc., also said it received $10 million, equivalent to the size of their annual operating budget.
“It’s an amazing day at the end of what’s been a very challenging year,” said Biemann, whose non-profit provides financing and advice to small businesses and entrepreneurs, especially those from rural areas or disadvantaged groups.
Philanthropy experts have applauded Scott’s work not only for how quickly she’s given away her fortune, but also how she’s gone about it.
“She shares the results of her research and criteria so that donors of all levels can learn about organizations that are particularly worthy of support,” said Boston College Law Professor, Ray Madoff.
Scott, 50, who was formerly married to Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, signed the Giving Pledge in 2019, promising to give away the majority of her fortune.
“I have a disproportionate amount of money to share,” she wrote in her pledge. “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.”
