Jeff Bezos's Ex-wife MacKenzie Gives Away Over $4 Billion in 4 Months

In July 2019, MacKenzie Scott had donated $1.68 billion to 116 nonprofits, universities, community development groups and legal organizations.

(File photo| AP)

In line with the commitment to extend her philanthropist initiatives, MacKenzie Scott, former wife of Amazon cofounder Jeff Bezos has announced giving away $4.1 billion in the past four months to hundreds of organizations. Scott, who is a philanthropist and author, announced her pandemic-era philanthropy in a Medium post on Tuesday, as per the The Seattle Times. Also Read: LPG Price Hike: Now, Shell Rs 50 More After Second Price Hike In A Fortnight; Check Rate In Major Cities While describing the difficult period of coronavirus pandemic she said, “it's a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling,” and noted is has been worse for women, people of color and those living in poverty. Scott went on to mention that “it has substantially increased the wealth of billionaires." In July 2019, she had donated $1.68 billion to 116 nonprofits, universities, community development groups and legal organizations. This year the author asked a team of advisers to help “accelerate” her 2020 giving initiatives urgently to those financially impacted by the pandemic. Scott’s team used a data-driven approach, identifying organizations with strong leadership and results, specifically in communities with high food insecurity, racial inequity and poverty rates, “and low access to philanthropic capital.” Scott and her team started with 6,490 organizations, researched 822 and put 438 “on hold for now,” waiting for more details about their impact, management and how they treat employees or community members. In total, almost 384 organizations in 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, DC, will share $4,158,500,000 in gifts, including food banks, emergency relief funds “and support services for those most vulnerable.” Other organizations will be addressing “long-term systemic inequities that have been deepened by the crisis,” such as debt relief, employment training, credit and financial services for under-resourced communities and education for historically marginalized and underserved people.