MacKenzie Scott is redefining what philanthropic efforts in the U.S. mean after accounting for one-third of the country’s total megagift donations last year.
However, some Americans have piled on her, claiming her efforts do not make enough of a difference in the lives of average citizens for several reasons.
Scott received a massive windfall of about $36 billion following her divorce from Jeff Bezos and has vowed to give away the fortune “until the safe is empty.”
MacKenzie Scott has made headlines for her dedication to charitable giving following her split from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Scott’s charitable giving accounted for an astonishing one-third of all “megagift” donations made across the United States last year, according to annual philanthropy tracking data.
Citing data from Giving USA and the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Fortune reported that total megagifts to charity reached a whopping $19.2 billion, with Bezos’ ex-wife contributing about $7 billion.
Other major donors included former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Warren Buffett, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Mackenzie Scott Vowed To Give Until The ‘Safe Is Empty’
The feat brings Scott’s total charitable donations over the last five years to a mouth-watering $26.2 billion.
“It was a positive year for charitable giving, with virtually all categories of recipient organizations achieving solid or better growth at the aggregate level,” Giving USA Foundation Vice Chair Gabe Cooper told Fortune while discussing the astronomical growth in megagifts.
Scott has been on a charity spree since her 2019 split from Bezos. The pair met in 1992 while working at D.E. Shaw, a New York hedge fund, and got married after three months of dating.
As part of their divorce settlement, she received about $35.6 billion in Amazon stock and became one of the wealthiest women in the world.
She has since founded Yield Giving, through which she carries out most of her philanthropic efforts after pledging to give away her fortune “until the safe is empty.”
“My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful. It will take time and effort and care. But I won’t wait,” she wrote in 2019.
Critics Question Who Mackenzie Scott’s Giving Really Helps
Despite her generous efforts, several social media users still think Scott is going about it the wrong way, with some claiming her donations do not directly impact average citizens.
“Giving it to non-profits and colleges really doesn’t help the average person…it’s just her way and every other philanthropist to get their name on a building…PERIOD!!!” an X user wrote.
“She’ll be lucky if half the money she gave actually goes to the cause versus ‘overhead,’” someone else wrote. “Most NGOs’ expenses are on bloated salaries, real estate, & ineffective programs with ZERO public accountability. Giving is better than receiving, which explains why NGO executives are so happy.”
A third user said, “When over $19.2B is donated per year, we’d better see some meaningful and sustainable POSITIVE life-altering changes. Otherwise, why are working class Americans compounding these donations with many Billions more, and the global needs issues continue rising?”
Jeff Bezos Faced Affair Claims After Split
Bezos announced their divorce in a Jan. 9, 2019, tweet, saying that after a “long period of loving exploration and trial separation,” they had decided to go their separate ways.
However, reports were rife at the time that he cheated on Scott with his now-wife, Lauren Sanchez.
According to the New York Post, Amazon executives suspected his marriage to Scott was about to fall apart as early as 2018, when he developed an unusual interest in helicopters, a mode of transportation he reportedly did not like.
In his book, “Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire,” Brad Stone noted that company executives were “perplexed” when they noticed budget charges for Sánchez’s aviation company, Black Ops, which Bezos had hired to film a test flight for a Blue Origin gig.
“It was another unfathomable shift to contemplate because as they all knew, Jeff Bezos hated helicopters,” Stone wrote.
Helicopter Plans Fueled Bezos Affair Suspicions
Their alleged affair was later revealed by the National Enquirer, even though the usually guarded Bezos continued to project a united front in his then-marriage.
Stone wrote in his book that executives were worried about how distracted Bezos had become and how increasingly hard he was to locate.
What reportedly gave the alleged affair away was his surprising interest in helicopters. According to Stone, Bezos’ holding company not only purchased one, but plans to include a helipad at a second headquarters in Long Island, “came right from the top.”
“Just to set the record straight, I did have a relationship with this woman,” Bezos reportedly told his top executives in an effort to come clean and get ahead of the news outlet’s revelations, which included leaked photos and steamy texts. “But the story is completely wrong and out of order… All of this is very distracting, so thank you for being focused on the business.”
