MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and one of the world’s richest women, on Tuesday announced a $2.74 billion donation to a total of 286 charitable organizations, from fields ranging from education to the arts. and cultural.
In a personal blog post, Scott – who is also a writer – explained that she and her current husband believed it “would be better if unequal wealth were not concentrated in the hands of a few people” and that they spent the first months of 2021 “identifying and evaluating” the entities to which they are donated.
Scott’s fortune comes from the 2019 divorce of his partner – Jeff Bezos – founder and CEO of Amazon who is considered the richest man in the world by Forbes list.
In the divorce agreement, Scott acquired 4% of the total shares of Amazon, a package that two years ago was already worth $36,000 million, but in recent months and especially with the Covid-19 epidemic and the ensuing boom in e-commerce has been much appreciated.
Forbes estimates Scott’s current fortune at $60 billion.
Since his divorce from Bezos, Scott has announced large donations on two other occasions throughout 2020, which together amounted to $6 billion.
Among the organizations that will receive a portion of the billionaire’s latest donation are the New York Hispanic Ballet, the National Association of Latin Arts and Cultures in the United States and several universities in the United States.