MacKenzie Scott has become one of the most influential philanthropists of 2025. The billionaire author and former spouse of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has donated hundreds of millions of dollars in recent months—and since 2020, her total giving has reached a staggering $19.25 billion.
Scott accumulated much of her wealth through her involvement with Bezos as Amazon took shape. Before their divorce in 2019, she played a significant role in the company’s early growth, assisting with business planning and operational foundations. In the divorce settlement, she received about a 4% stake in Amazon—approximately 139 million shares.
Since then, she has reduced her holdings by roughly 42%, selling or donating around 58 million shares valued at about $12.6 billion as of late 2025. Even after her extensive giving, she maintains a net worth exceeding $35 billion. Her charitable vehicle, Yield Giving—launched in 2022—has distributed funds to thousands of organizations supporting education, DEI efforts, disaster response, and more.
Despite continually donating and selling shares, Scott’s wealth has still risen. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, she has gained nearly $1 billion in net worth this year alone. Amazon shares have surged more than 45% since late 2020.
Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos has made some significant contributions of his own, including a $10 billion commitment to establish the Bezos Earth Fund in 2020 to combat climate change. Additional giving includes $790 million through environmental grants, $110 million for homeless family support via the Day 1 Families Fund, $120 million toward Bezos Academy preschools, and a completed $200 million Smithsonian pledge in 2024.
Yet, according to Forbes’ America’s Most Generous Philanthropists 2025 list, his lifetime giving totals just $4.1 billion—around 1.6% of his $264 billion net worth. In contrast, Scott has given away 36% of her wealth.
Forbes includes only funds that have already reached charitable recipients—not money still held in foundations. Their analysis places Scott as the fifth-most generous individual donor in the country, behind Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, George Soros, and Michael Bloomberg.
Major Contributions from MacKenzie Scott in 2025
Scott’s most recent gifts—focused primarily on DEI, education, and disaster recovery—include:
- Howard University: $80 million
- Virginia State University: $50 million
- Alcorn State University: $42 million
- Spelman College: $38 million
- United Negro College Fund (UNCF): $70 million
- African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund: $40 million
- Center for Disaster Philanthropy: $60 million
Many of these donations represent the largest single gifts in the respective institution’s history.
A Distinct Approach to Giving
Scott is known for providing unrestricted funding—allowing recipient organizations to decide how best to use the money.
As one nonprofit leader explained in a 2024 Fortune interview, this approach eliminates burdensome requirements and helps groups act swiftly and creatively.
Her giving has increasingly focused on areas where federal cutbacks have created resource gaps—suggesting her philanthropy may be intentionally stepping in where government support has receded.
Scott believes Americans should embrace the collective responsibility of community building. In an October post on her Yield Giving website, she wrote that generosity doesn’t need to be transactional to be powerful:
“What if these so-called weaknesses foster the strengths upon which the thriving (or even survival) of our civilization depends?”
