I once read a line, “Every good deed must be a secret,” and could only think of MacKenzie Scott. But in today’s age of social media, secrets are hard to keep. The world knows Scott donated a staggering $7 billion in 2025. Despite that mammoth show of benevolence, she was notably absent from the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s list of the top 50 donors this year.
It is striking to ignore the very figure everyone was talking about: that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife gave away a tremendous $7 billion to more than 120 organizations last year through her philanthropic vehicle, Yield Giving. In comparison, the Chronicle honored America’s biggest donors who gave a combined $22.4 billion in 2025. Scott alone gave far more than Michael Bloomberg’s $4.3 billion, which topped the list.
This was not a matter of generosity; it simply came down to accounting rules. The Chronicle counts gifts and pledges made to nonprofits, family foundations, and donor-advised funds. It does not count the grants those vehicles later disburse to the end-charity. As a result, Scott is missing from a ranking she clearly would have dominated. Her one-year total alone equals roughly 32% of the entire Top-50 tally. Had she been included, the Chronicle’s overall figure would have effectively jumped from $22.4 billion to nearly $30 billion.
While her ex-husband Jeff Bezos did not make the list, his parents, Jackie and Miguel Bezos, did, thanks to a hefty $500 million donation to tackle malnutrition. Addressing the absence, a spokesperson for the Chronicle noted, “While it is possible she made gifts to her donor-advised funds that would have earned her a spot… she and her representatives declined to provide such information.” Because it is essentially impossible to contact Yield Giving, confirming the internal movements of her wealth remains out of reach for traditional list-makers. According to Forbes, Scott is worth $29 billion today and has donated nearly that same amount, a mind-boggling $26 billion, since 2020.
Thanks to the ever-rising prices of Amazon shares, the more she gives, the more she seems to gain. It makes it almost inevitable that she will continue to shatter records in the future, with or without the validation of a list.
