WOMEN+POWER 2025: MacKenzie Scott

Since MacKenzie Scott’s marriage to Jeff Bezos ended six years ago, she has shaken up the nonprofit world with her particular brand of billion-dollar generosity. 

This year marks the sixth anniversary after the author and mom of four’s divorce from the Amazon founder became official in 2019, resulting in an approximately $36 billion settlement.

Since then, the 54-year-old Scott, who is currently 68th on Forbes’ billionaires list, has “transformed” philanthropy with her sizable, unrestricted donations, according to a three-year study published by the Center for Effective Philanthropy in February: She has given away more than $19 billion to more than 2,000 organizations.

“It could take decades to truly understand the effects these gifts have had on nonprofits and the sector at large,” the report reads. “However, after five years of giving, the reported effects of her gifts on recipient organizations … remain overwhelmingly positive.”

Scott’s new chapter in philanthropy began with her split from Bezos. The two share four children — three sons and a daughter.

Bezos retained 75 percent of the former couple’s Amazon shares, which was about 12 percent of the company, while MacKenzie kept roughly four percent, The New York Times reported at the time. 

Last year, she made headlines when she announced she was giving away $640 million to 361 nonprofit groups across the country, which were chosen from over 6,000 applicants.

“Each of these 361 community-led non-profits was elevated by peer organizations and a round-2 evaluation panel for their outstanding work advancing the voices and opportunities of individuals and families of meager or modest means,” Scott wrote in a post on her Yield Giving website, “and groups who have met with discrimination and other systemic obstacles.” 

In 2019, Scott also made the Giving Pledge, which is a list of billionaires who’ve pledged to donate half of their fortunes. 

“I have no doubt that tremendous value comes when people act quickly on the impulse to give. No drive has more positive ripple effects than the desire to be of service,” she wrote in a letter.

“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,” she added.