Other billionaires need to take notes from MacKenzie Scott.
The ex-wife of Jeff Bezos gave away more than $4 billion in the past four months, according to a post she shared on Medium this week.
“This pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling,” she wrote. “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.”
According to Fortune, Scott is the 18th richest person in the world and the richest woman. During the pandemic, her net worth increased by $23.6 billion to $60.7 billion, as Amazon’s value soared in 2020.
In the Medium post, Scott details how she asked her financial team to work with “hundreds of field experts, funders, and non-profit leaders and volunteers with decades of experience” to find where her money would have the most immediate impact. In total, she gave away $4,158,500,000 in gifts to 384 organizations across the entire country, including a number of HBCUs.
“These 384 carefully selected teams have dedicated their lives to helping others, working and volunteering and serving real people face-to-face at bedsides and tables, in prisons and courtrooms and classrooms, on streets and hospital wards and hotlines and frontlines of all types and sizes, day after day after day,” Scott wrote.
The money she’s giving comes with no strings attached. The billionaire noted that she still plans to donate more before the year is over.
“Though I’m far from completing my pledge, this year of giving began with exposure to leaders from historically marginalized groups fighting inequities, and ended with exposure to thousands of organizations working to alleviate suffering for those hardest hit by the pandemic,” she added.
Hopefully these giant contributions will pressure other wealthy folks to open up their wallets and do what they can to help the countless folks struggling to make it through this holiday season.
“If you’re craving a way to use your time, voice, or money to help others at the end of this difficult year, I highly recommend a gift to one of the thousands of organizations doing remarkable work all across the country,” she wrote. “Every one of them could benefit from more resources to share with the communities they’re serving.”
