MacKenzie Scott is continuing to give away vast quantities of her personal fortune after it came to light that she has donated over $4 billion in just four months.
Will the former wife of Amazon boss Jeff Bezos have enough money left over to keep the wolf from her door? Don’t worry, we’ve had a look at the numbers, and it seems she’ll be fine.
This week, Scott wrote a blog about her continuing efforts to give “back to society.” She wrote: “This pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling.
“Economic losses and health outcomes alike have been worse for women, for people of color, and for people living in poverty. Meanwhile, it has substantially increased the wealth of billionaires.”
She further explained that in July, she asked her advisors to look for ways that would enable her to give her money to the needy more quickly. And the result was $4,158,500,000 in gifts to 384 non-profit organizations across all 50 states in just four months.
The cash went to a wide variety of initiatives that ranged from food banks and emergency relief funds to support services for those most vulnerable to financial advice for struggling businesses.
So, how much money does MacKenzie Scott still have?
Scott still has oodles of money to give away. According to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, she remains the 18th wealthiest person in the world. And this year has seen her fortune surge from $23.6 billion to $60.7 billion. At this rate, she’ll struggle to give it away quickly enough!
So despite giving away the $4 billion and a further $1.7 billion earlier in the year, Scott is still worth a whopping $60.7 billion. Her fortune has overwhelmingly come from Amazon.com Inc., where profits have particularly soared this year.
It seems that the generous billionaire has no intention of stopping there with the donations and gifts. She already pledged in 2019 that she would give away most of her money.
In her pledge, she wrote: ” I have a disproportionate amount of money to share. 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.”
Jeff Bezos has also pledged $10 billion to fight climate change
Her former husband Jeff Bezos kept three-quarters of the couple’s Amazon shares after their divorce; he, therefore, maintains his position as the world’s richest individual. He is the owner of a cool $185 billion, an increase of $70 billion this year.
Bezos does have a charitable side himself, as earlier this year, he earmarked $10 billion to go to organizations battling climate change.
Scott isn’t the only wealthy individual to donate money during the coronavirus crisis. Twitter boss, Jack Dorsey, pledged $1 billion to COVID relief efforts last April.
And in the same month, singer Dolly Parton contributed $1 million to help fund Moderna’s research to find an effective vaccine for COVID-19.