When you're worth tens of billions of dollars, even giving away money at a furious pace doesn't necessarily make you less wealthy. Just ask MacKenzie Scott.
The billionaire philanthropist and ex-wife of Amazon (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos announced she's donated over $7.1 billion in the past year, her biggest annual giving announcement yet. That's a lot of money by any measure, and it went to 186 organizations around the world, from universities to environmental nonprofits to groups working on equality issues.
The Math That Doesn't Quite Add Up
Here's the fascinating part: Scott has now given away more than $26 billion to over 2,700 nonprofit organizations since launching her philanthropic project several years ago. Yet according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, her net worth still sits at around $40 billion. The reason? Her stake in Amazon, which keeps appreciating even as she sells shares. She's offloaded about 40% of her holdings according to regulatory filings earlier this year, but the remaining stake keeps growing in value.
For context, Scott donated $2.6 billion in 2024 and $2.1 billion in 2023. This year's $7.1 billion figure represents a significant acceleration in her giving.
Meanwhile, Bezos himself, the fourth richest person in the world, has said he intends to give away most of his fortune during his lifetime. He's acknowledged it's "not easy" but has been structuring his efforts through initiatives like the Day 1 Families Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, and the Courage and Civility Award.
Leadership Through Connection, Not Command
Scott announced her latest donations in an essay posted Tuesday on her website Yield Giving. Since separating from Bezos in 2019, she's become one of the most generous philanthropists in history, often pairing her donation announcements with thoughtful essays.
In this latest piece, she draws an interesting parallel between healthy communities and murmurations of starlings, those mesmerizing flocks that move in perfect coordination without a single leader directing them. Instead, they respond through continuous, shared awareness.
She also references a Hopi prophecy urging people to "let go of the shore" and abandon the myth of the lone wolf. Her argument? Kindness, empathy, and service are forms of leadership too, quiet but powerful forces that shape society far more than traditional top-down approaches. It's a different philosophy than the business world typically celebrates, but then again, she's writing checks that most people can't even imagine.
