New Delhi:
MacKenzie Scott, billionaire philanthropist and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has additional minimize down her Amazon stake. A November 8 submitting revealed that Scott offered 11 per cent of her Amazon shares valued at over $8 billion on September 30.
The most recent transaction brings her complete Amazon share gross sales and items to 255 million shares, amounting to round $37 billion on the time of the disposals. With this, Scott, who acquired round 400 million Amazon shares as a part of her divorce settlement with Bezos in 2019, has offered or donated two-thirds of these holdings in lower than six years.
This makes her one of many 5 most beneficiant residing donors within the US, with no less than $17.3 billion donated to non-profit organisations, based on Forbes.
At the moment, Forbes estimates Scott’s internet value at $30 billion, a drop from $38 billion only a week in the past, and considerably down from her peak of $59 billion in 2021. Had she not given away her Amazon shares, her wealth would have been nearer to $82 billion, inserting her among the many prime 20 richest individuals globally and making her the second richest girl.
Whereas Scott has by no means publicly mentioned her philanthropic efforts in nice element, she repeatedly updates her Yield Giving web site and lists grants made to numerous causes. In considered one of her essays in December 2022, Scott wrote, “Info from different individuals – different givers, my crew, the non-profit groups I have been giving to – has been enormously useful to me.” She additionally mirrored on the challenges of making a platform that correctly conveys her philanthropic intentions.
Scott has lately given $1.5 million to the Mni Sota Fund, a non-profit organisation that builds wealth for city Native individuals in Minnesota. Then Entry to Capital for Entrepreneurs in Georgia acquired $10 million in August from her. Moreover, Coastal Enterprises, an organisation targeted on rural financial improvement in Maine, was given $15 million in October 2024, marking a uncommon second donation to the identical organisation from Scott, based on Forbes.
Scott typically opts to not publicise her donations until requested by the recipients. Every year, Scott unveils new grants by way of her Yield Giving platform, normally on the finish of the calendar 12 months. It is possible that among the Amazon shares offered on this current submitting had been directed to non-profit teams as a part of her ongoing charitable commitments.
Of the $37 billion in Amazon shares Scott has offloaded to date, she has introduced donations of $17.3 billion to greater than 2,300 organisations. The remaining worth from the gross sales is probably going held in donor-advised funds or different charitable accounts, with some funds presumably already being offered.
Scott’s distinctive strategy to philanthropy has garnered consideration for its simplicity and effectiveness. She doesn’t actively solicit requests for grants, aside from her Open Name initiative, which awarded $640 million to 361 organisations earlier this 12 months. Her unrestricted money grants, which are sometimes bigger than an organisation’s annual price range, have made a big affect on many smaller charities. For example, Dianne Calvi, CEO of Village Enterprises, a non-profit tackling poverty in rural Africa, famous that Scott’s $7 million donation final 12 months considerably boosted the organisation’s popularity, resulting in extra funding.