Mackenzie Scott, 54, is known for many things, being the ex-wife of Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos, a philanthropist (a role that emerged partly from her divorce), an author, and a mother of four, including three sons and an adopted daughter from China. But there’s one more thing she is: a thorough individual. Whatever Mackenzie takes on, she gives 100 percent, whether it’s her career, her philanthropy (having donated $17.3 billion to more than 2,300 nonprofits), or her role as a mother. Perhaps her parenting isn’t as widely discussed because it doesn’t involve her billions, $34.6 billion, to be exact, thanks to her 4% stake in Amazon. Scott, who played a key role in Amazon’s early development alongside Bezos, contributed to everything from the company’s name and business plan to managing accounts and shipping early orders.
But when her first child, Preston, was born in 2000, when Amazon’s market cap was around $5.55 billion, Mackenzie chose to dedicate herself to motherhood, a decision she continued with her two other children. Writing, however, was her first passion. Long before becoming a mother, Scott penned her first book at the age of six, a 142-page manuscript titled ‘The Book Worm,’ which she still vividly remembers, though it was tragically lost in a flood. Let’s delve deeper into the unwritten chapters of Mackenzie Scott’s life, where her influence goes beyond her fortune and philanthropy.
A hands-on mom-
One might expect the couple behind a billion-dollar empire to rely on nannies, but that wasn’t MacKenzie’s way. True to her values, she didn’t let their wealth influence her parenting style. Both Scott and Bezos were committed to being hands-on, available parents who even dabbled in homeschooling despite their busy schedules. “We tried all sorts of things,” she shared with Vogue. “Including off-season travel, kitchen science experiments, chicken incubation, Mandarin lessons, the Singapore math program, and lots of clubs and sports with other neighborhood kids.”
There was no fleet of luxury cars for the school run, so MacKenzie drove the kids herself in her Honda minivan, the ultimate Mom-mobile. “MacKenzie has a very clear sense of herself, and it was never going to change based on whether she was rich or poor,” said Danny Hillis, a longtime friend. “They believed it would be wrong to raise children isolated by their wealth.”
On the other hand, Bezos’s fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, embodies glamour and wealth, cruising with an entourage aboard the colossal $500 million Koru megayacht. The 416-foot Oceanco masterpiece is shadowed by a $75 million Abeona support yacht brimming with tenders, toys, and, crucially, Sanchez’s helicopter.
Within Koru, the helicopter pilot lives like royalty, with a personalized white robe and a designer wardrobe worth over $250,000 filled with Hermès, Chanel, and Gucci treasures. She even flies in New York hairstylist Olivia Halpin and celebrity makeup artist Buster Knight to the Mediterranean whenever she desires a touch-up.
Motherhood before manuscripts-
MacKenzie Scott began writing her first novel, The Testing of Luther Albright, nearly a decade before publishing it in 2005 (the book also won an American Book Award in 2006). While balancing the demands of helping Bezos launch Amazon, raising her family, and moving cross-country, her writing took a backseat.
Even her second book, Traps, took over ten years to complete. The daughter of a financial planner and a homemaker, Scott never regretted prioritizing her children and knew exactly how she wanted to raise her four kids.
A support system called Jeff Bezos-
MacKenzie Scott, once a shy, bookish girl who spent hours crafting stories, put her writing career on hold to focus on raising her children. Scott once said, “Writing is such a ‘pretend’ profession. Nobody is counting on you at all. You can’t ‘pretend’ to be a lawyer or a teacher. It takes a lot of grit to continue. Kids, on the other hand, have an urgent need to be taken care of. After the third child, I knew I couldn’t be the kind of parent I wanted to be and continue writing. Those years were just too busy.”
However, to help her carve out time for her writing, Bezos rented a one-bedroom apartment near their family home, giving Scott a peaceful sanctuary to pour her thoughts onto the page until the school day ended and motherhood took over once again. In the early days, Bezos and his family lived in a single-story, three-bedroom home when he began selling books online from the garage. This modest house in Bellevue came with a rent of $890 a month and doubled as both their living space and Amazon’s first headquarters, where Bezos started the company from the garage. Relatively speaking, he presumably shelled out $300 to $400 for the rental apartment where MacKenzie Scott worked on her writing.
Scott has become almost synonymous with her multi-million dollar donations, but a glimpse into her past reveals her simplicity, contentment, and strong values. Despite her eldest being nearly 24, little is known about her children, who have been deliberately kept out of the spotlight. The world still wonders about the names of her other two sons and her daughter, details that remain a mystery.
