Yahoo Finance Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife donates $5.5 billion over four months
Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has revealed she has given away US $4.16 billion, or $5.5 billion, over the last four months to hundreds of organisations providing services and funds to assist with the damage wreaked by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In mid-2019, Scott pledged that she would give away most of her wealth to charitable causes and philanthropy.
Scott is currently worth US $59 billion, or $78.1 billion, and owns about 4 per cent of Amazon, shares that she received through her divorce settlement with founder Jeff Bezos last year after being married for 26 years. Scott made the Giving Pledge in the same year.
During the pandemic, Scott saw her wealth jump nearly 83 per cent, or US $29.7 billion, according to USA Today.
“In addition to whatever assets life has nurtured in me, I have a disproportionate amount of money to share,” she said last year as part of her Giving Pledge.
As Covid-19 hit, she observed the inequality that was increasing amid the pandemic. “Economic losses and health outcomes alike have been worse for women, for people of color, and for people living in poverty,” she wrote in her latest blog post.
“Meanwhile, it has substantially increased the wealth of billionaires.”
So she decided to do something about it.
“I asked a team of advisors to help me accelerate my 2020 giving through immediate support to people suffering the economic effects of the crisis.”
Her team of advisers spoke to hundreds of experts, non-profit leaders, volunteers and funders across hundreds of emails, phone interviews and “thousands of pages on data analysis”.
Initially, 6,490 organisations were considered, and “deeper research” was conducted on 822. In the end, 384 organisations were selected to receive funding, with the other 438 “on hold” as it had not sufficiently proven its impact.
“The result over the last four months has been US $4,158,500,000 in gifts to 384 organizations across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington D.C,” Scott wrote.
“Some are filling basic needs: food banks, emergency relief funds, and support services for those most vulnerable.
“Others are addressing long-term systemic inequities that have been deepened by the crisis: debt relief, employment training, credit and financial services for under-resourced communities, education for historically marginalised and underserved people, civil rights advocacy groups, and legal defense funds that take on institutional discrimination.”
The rigorous vetting process meant organisations were chosen for their high impact – but also so the donation could be given “with full trust and no strings attached,” Scott added.
“Because our research is data-driven and rigorous, our giving process can be human and soft. Not only are non-profits chronically underfunded, they are also chronically diverted from their work by fundraising, and by burdensome reporting requirements that donors often place on them.”
Organisation and program leaders were told that the financial donation would be given “upfront and left unrestricted” to give the organisation maximum flexibility to spend it however they wanted.
“Their stories and tears invariably made me and my teammates cry.”
At the bottom of the blog post, Scott named each of the organisations and called on others who were seeking a way to use their money to help others at this time of year to donate to the groups.
“Every one of them could benefit from more resources to share with the communities they’re serving. And the hope you feed with your gift is likely to feed your own.”
Bezos’ net worth is currently US $182.2 billion, with his personal wealth growing US $90.1 billion, during the pandemic.
He isn’t the only billionaire who saw their fortunes grow during that time: between mid-March to roughy October, America’s 614 billionaires saw their collective wealth soar by US $931 billion, USA Today reported.
Washington Business Journal recently reported that four non-profits focused on providing services to the homeless would each get a slice of US $10 million through Bezos’ Day One Fund.
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