'I have too much money': ex-wife of Bezos donates billions of dollars to the poor
'17.12.2020'
Source: with the BBC
Mackenzie Scott began to actively spend the money she received after her divorce from Jeff Bezos. And not at home, fashionable outfits and cars, but for good deeds! The money will also be received by organizations providing food aid to Americans affected by the pandemic, reports with the BBC.
Mackenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has donated $ 4,2 billion to charity in the past four months. And as Scott herself wrote in her blog, she is not going to stop there. After her divorce from Bezos, Mackenzie became one of the wealthiest people in the world.
The money will go to organizations helping Americans in the pandemic, including food banks or emergency funds.
“The pandemic was a devastating blow to those Americans who were already barely making ends meet,” she wrote on her blog. - The economic and health consequences are especially severe for women, minorities and the poor. Meanwhile, the wealth of billionaires has increased during this time. ”
Cost of 25% of Amazon shares inherited by Mackenzie Scott after parting with Bezos, this year has grown by 23,6 billion to 60,7 billion. The coronavirus has caused a downturn in many sectors of the economy, but turned into a boom for online commerce.
The 50-year-old writer and social activist ranks 18th on the list of the richest people in the world. This list is headed by her ex-husband.
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In July of this year, Scott donated an additional $ 1,7 billion to the same purpose.
Philanthropists are delighted with both these sums and the preliminary work done by Mackenzie Scott and her assistants. From almost 6,5 thousand American charitable foundations, they scrupulously selected first 116, and then 380 more.
According to Scott, hundreds of interviews have been conducted and thousands of pages of documents have been analyzed, addressing the specific needs of people and the effectiveness of organizations.
Preference was given to those who “work with the groups of people most affected by nutritional problems, racial inequality, locally concentrated poverty, and inadequate access to philanthropic capital”.
Last year, Mackenzie Scott signed the Giving Pledge, a moral commitment to donate at least half of her fortune to charities.
The campaign, launched in 2010 by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, had by then been joined by 204 billionaires from 23 countries, including Michael Bloomberg, George Lucas, David Rockefeller and Mark Zuckerberg, and from the Russians, Vladimir Potanin.
“I have too much money, and I want to share it,” Scott wrote then.
Bezos billions
Mackenzie Scott and Jeff Bezos got married in 1993. A year later, he founded Amazon, where she became the first employee.
The couple lived together for 26 years. They have three sons and one adopted daughter.
Since the beginning of 2020, Bezos' fortune has grown from $ 115 billion to $ 185 billion thanks to increased online commerce, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He recently announced his intention to donate $ 10 billion to fight climate change. The first 800 million in November went to 16 organizations.
Largest donations
2020 saw an increase in large charitable contributions from entrepreneurs, sports stars and other celebrities, primarily in connection with the coronavirus pandemic.
Among the most generous donors was Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who in April donated $ 19 billion of his personal fortune to the fight against COVID-3,9.
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Bill Gates and his wife Melinda spent $ 305 million through their foundation to create vaccines and purchase diagnostic equipment.
Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling donated a million pounds ($ 1,35 million) to help the homeless and victims of domestic violence that grew up during the lockdown.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan channeled $ 300 million to “defend American elections.” Most of this amount went to the non-profit organization Center for Technological Civil Life and was used to pay employees of election commissions and provide them with means of protection against coronavirus, as well as to create a network of special boxes in which voters could leave completed ballots without entering the polling station.
Basketball star Michael Jordan announced in June that he will donate $ 10 million over the next 100 years to fight racial injustice, including the Black Lives Matter movement.
