Bezos' Ex Gives Away Billions More, 'No Strings Attached'

MacKenzie Scott donates another $4.2B
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 16, 2020 1:01 AM CST
Updated Dec 16, 2020 4:49 AM CST
Bezos' Ex Gives Away Billions More
In this March 4, 2018 file photo, then-MacKenzie Bezos arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, Calif.   (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

MacKenzie Scott continues to dole out the billions following her divorce from Jeff Bezos. The Amazon founder's ex, who has pledged to donate most of her fortune and had already given away $1.7 billion to that end, on Tuesday announced another massive give: this time, $4.16 billion shared between 384 organizations, CNN reports. The recipients range from food banks to debt relief to defense funds to emergency relief funds and more. A team of advisers who helped her come up with the plan paid "special attention to those operating in communities facing high projected food insecurity, high measures of racial inequity, high local poverty rates, and low access to philanthropic capital," she writes in a Medium post that lists all the organizations. She also delves into the extensive research that team did before narrowing thousands of possible recipients down to the final group.

"We do this research and deeper diligence not only to identify organizations with high potential for impact, but also to pave the way for unsolicited and unexpected gifts given with full trust and no strings attached," she writes. Indeed, in October, Stephanie Clifford noted in a Medium piece how different Scott's philanthropy is from the norm because of that absence of strings—the funds are given in full upfront, with zero restrictions or requirements placed upon how they can be used. With her first round of giving, Scott had already "far outpaced" her ex, Clifford noted at the time. "MacKenzie Scott ... leaving Jeff Bezos was probably the best thing she could've done for herself, and for the world," Anna Gifty tweeted Tuesday. "Scott just gifted multiple multi-million dollar gifts to Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Morgan State, Prarire View, and Clark Atlanta." (Scott in September became the world's richest woman.)

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