Mackenzie Scott has donated $16.5 billion of her fortune to date. Matthew Staver/Bloomberg via Getty Images
MacKenzie Scott sold 65.3 million shares of Amazon.com last year, about a quarter of the company’s stock, according to regulatory filings.
Those shares are worth $10.4 billion at Friday’s closing price.
After divorcing Jeff Bezos in 2019, Scott ended up owning about 4% of the tech giant’s stock, worth about $37 billion at the time. Even though she has disposed of about half of her stock in the past five years, Amazon still accounts for the majority of her $37.6 billion net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Her fortune would have been even greater were it not for her unprecedented philanthropy. Since his split with Bezos, Scott has donated more than $16.5 billion to various charities, a huge amount even for one of the wealthiest people on the planet. Scott has published a list of her recipients on her website, which includes more than 360 of her organizations that have received a total of $2.15 billion in the past year.
In 2019, Scott signed the Giving Pledge, a non-binding pledge by billionaires to give away a large portion of their wealth.
“In addition to the wealth that has been cultivated within me throughout my life, I have money to share,” she wrote in a letter posted on the Giving Pledge website. “My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful. It will take time, effort and care. But I won’t wait. And I will continue until the coffers are empty.”
Scott could not be reached for comment.
Bezos, who is worth $184.1 billion, has not signed a giving pledge, but told CNN in 2022 that he plans to donate the majority of his wealth.