Mackenzie Scott is best described as a megadonor, and it looks like that title isn’t going anywhere. It will forever overtake her other aspects, like author, mother, and even ex-wife of centibillionaire Jeff Bezos. The kind of mark she has already created with her philanthropy is unheard of and unseen. Take, for instance, her latest gift: a whopping $65 million to a New York-based nonprofit after unloading billions worth of Amazon.com Inc. stock.
The donation, which made a dent in her net worth ($39 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index), a gesture likely to bring her immense pride, was made in late October to the community-development organization Local Initiatives Support Corp., or LISC. No small amount, it goes without saying, this is the largest contribution in the organization’s 45-year history, and also the largest known single donation by the author in 2024.
Scott has been in the news recently for unloading more than 45 million shares in the online retailing giant. She is making waves with her charitable endeavors, and this marks the second grant to LISC, building on a $40 million gift in 2020 that was used to seed programs to narrow gaps in health, wealth, and opportunity, particularly for communities of color. The new funding brings Scott’s total support for LISC’s work to $105 million.
“We are enormously grateful for Ms. Scott’s confidence in LISC and our national network of programs, staff, and partners that are driving impact across the country,” said Michael Pugh, LISC president and CEO. “This remarkable funding is an investment not just in our capacity to support affordable housing, economic development, health, safety, and jobs, but also in the well-being of the thousands of communities where we work every day,” he said.
Someone wise once said every good deed must be a secret, and Scott seems to be a staunch follower of that adage as she has donated seven- and eight-figure gifts over the past few months without so much as a peep. Only a day ago, news broke that Scott donated $15 million to Seattle-based Craft3, the largest donation the nonprofit has ever received.
Her ex-husband, Jeff Bezos, has started treading on the path of philanthropy, but he has miles to catch up with the mother of his kids. Recently, the tech tycoon pledged $60 million in October to restore land twice the size of Rhode Island.
His money is mainly pumped into business ventures, such as his most recent investment in a robot company called Physical Intelligence. It’s not a life-saving technique, but these robots can fold your laundry, serve breakfast, and even put your eggs in a carton. Something that only the world’s second-richest man, worth $232 billion, will need a robot for. Mere mortals can manage just fine with their hands.
