Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has announced that she is giving $640m to non-profit organizations, double her initial planned donations for the year. Initially, she had intended to make 250 awards of $1m each this year.
Since her divorce from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos in 2019, Scott has given away $16.5bn. With a net worth of $37.5bn, Forbes ranks her as the fourth richest woman in the world. She has pledged to give away half of her wealth throughout her life, with most of the funds coming from a 4% stake in Amazon from her divorce settlement.
MacKenzie Scott’s latest round of donations includes groups like the ACLU of Alabama, Justice for Migrant Women, the Sacramento LGBT Community Center, and Mental Health Advocacy Services. Recipients were chosen based on their exceptional work in advancing the voices and opportunities of individuals and families facing obstacles like discrimination.
This year, Scott changed her approach by having a panel review all applications and openly awarding $2m to 279 organizations and $1m to 82 groups. Lever for Change, the group managing the applications, stated that the outstanding work of many applicants led to the increase in the number and amount of awards given.
