While Jeff Bezos was enjoying his summer and preparing for an extravagant wedding in Venice, his former wife, MacKenzie Scott, found herself in a completely different reality, both mentally and financially. The 55-year-old writer and philanthropist, who after their 2019 divorce became one of the world’s richest women with a fortune of $38 billion and a 4% stake in Amazon, has chosen a path far removed from luxury and publicity. Rather than reveling in her wealth, she has dedicated herself to distributing it, publicly declaring her intention to give away her fortune to good causes until her “safe is empty.” It is within this noble mission that her latest financial moves—closely watched by the business community—should be understood.
Over the past year, the Californian has nearly halved her stake in the e-commerce giant. She sold 58 million shares, accounting for 42% of her previous holdings. The total value of the shares sold reached a staggering $12.6 billion. Many analysts interpret this move as a clear sign of MacKenzie Scott’s determination to systematically and swiftly sever all ties with the company her former husband founded.
Despite such a large-scale sale, MacKenzie Scott remains a major shareholder, owning 81.1 million Amazon shares. It is still unclear whether her stake was reduced solely through sales or if some shares were donated. In any case, her current net worth is estimated at $32.4 billion, ranking her 66th among the world’s wealthiest people. Since joining the Giving Pledge in 2020, an initiative founded by Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, and Warren Buffett, she has outpaced many billionaires in her charitable giving. Since her divorce, Scott has directed about $19 billion to nearly two thousand different nonprofit organizations. Paradoxically, even after such vast donations, her fortune has barely diminished, as Amazon shares continue to rise in value.
Her groundbreaking approach to philanthropy is defined by a complete lack of control over the recipients of her funds. She gives them full freedom in managing the money, eliminating audits, bureaucracy, and lengthy grant application procedures. This method is so unconventional that some NGOs, when first contacted by Scott’s representatives, initially thought the offers were a scam.
MacKenzie and Jeff married in 1993, a year before Amazon was founded. They first met at the New York hedge fund D. E. Shaw, where she worked as an assistant and he was a senior vice president. Scott played a key role in Amazon’s early days: she kept the books, contributed ideas, and helped fulfill the company’s first orders. During their 25-year marriage, the couple had four children. In 2019, they announced their divorce with a joint statement emphasizing their continued friendship. However, the announcement was preceded by scandal: shortly before the official news, a tabloid revealed Bezos’s relationship with journalist Lauren Sanchez, publishing their private messages. At the time, the billionaire accused the publication of attempted blackmail.
As part of a historic divorce settlement, the writer retained 4% of Amazon’s shares but gave up her interests in The Washington Post and the aerospace company Blue Origin.
