MacKenzie Scott gave away $7.1 billion this year: Are others living up to their pledge?

article

FILE - MacKenzie Bezos attends the 2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 4, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

Expand

Mackenzie Scott, the billionaire philanthropist, author and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, gave away $7.1 billion to charities this year, more than twice the amount she donated in 2024. 

In an essay on her website, Yield Giving, Scott described the donations as a "vanishingly tiny fraction of the personal expressions of care being shared into communities this year."

Mackenzie Scott’s philanthropy

What they're saying:

"Generosity and kindness engage the same pleasure centers in the brain as sex, food, and receiving gifts, and they improve our health and long-term happiness as well," Scott wrote. "The peace-fostering byproducts of one unexpected act of kindness toward a stranger of different background or beliefs might inspire a beneficial chain reaction that goes on for years. Respect, understanding, insight, empathy, forgiveness, inspiration – all of these are meaningful contributions to others."

By the numbers:

Scott donated $2.6 billion in 2024 and $2.1 billion in 2023. Since 2019, she’s given away $26.3 billion.

Included in that total is more than $700 million Scott donated to Historically Black Colleges and Universities this year. 

RELATED: MacKenzie Scott donates over $700 million to HBCUs

Unlike Scott’s gifts, most foundations or major donors direct grants to specific programs and require an application and updates about the impact of the nonprofit’s work. Scott does not ask grantees to report back about how they used the money.

She cited her own experiences getting help while in college, including a dentist who repaired a tooth for free and her roommate who loaned her $1,000.

Scott now has invested in that same roommate’s company, which offers loans to students who would otherwise struggle to get financing from banks. The investments seem to be part of an effort Scott announced last year to move more of her money into "mission aligned" investments, rather than into vehicles that seek only the highest monetary returns.

"There are many ways to influence how we move through the world, and where we land."

Who is MacKenzie Scott?

The backstory:

MacKenzie Scott is a philanthropist, author and the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, to whom she was married for 25 years. As part of their divorce in 2019, Scott received a 4% stake in the online retailer. Her estimated worth is $33 billion, according to Forbes.

In 2019, Scott signed the Giving Pledge, a movement of rich philanthropists who promise to give the majority of their wealth to charitable causes, either during their lifetimes or in their wills. The pledge was founded by billionaires Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, and Warren Buffett.

The Giving Pledge criticisms

The other side:

Although the pledge is perceived as well-intentioned, one study found that it does more to present billionaires as generous than it does to address the inequities and policies that gave way to such wealth. 

Critics have also accused many of the billionaires who signed on — like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg — of not living up to their pledge, or not being transparent in their contributions. 

"Have they given enough? No," Melinda French Gates said in a recent Wired interview.