MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos, has reduced her stake in the e-commerce company, cutting her holdings by nearly 42% to $12.6 billion, according to a regulatory filing with the SEC filed Tuesday and dated September 30. Many of Scott’s recent philanthropic efforts have focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. First reported by Bloomberg, the filing shows that Scott now holds 81.1 million Amazon shares – down 58 million from a year earlier. This reduction occurred despite Amazon shares more than doubling since Scott’s 2019 divorce from Bezos.The filing, however, does not specify whether the reduction in Amazon holdings resulted from share sales, donations, or a combination of both, the report said. Under the terms of their divorce agreement, Bezos retains voting authority over Scott’s holdings and is required to disclose them annually.
MacKenzie Scott’s philanthropic ventures
With an estimated net worth of $32 billion, Scott obtained most of her wealth following her 2019 divorce from Bezos and has pledged to give away the majority of it. After ending up with approximately 4% of the tech giant, Scott has given away $19 billion in gifts to more than 2,000 nonprofits over the past five years. The median gift size of her thousands of donations since the divorce is roughly $5 million.
Focus on diversity and equity causes
As a part of Scott’s philanthropic efforts, one of her most recent donations includes a $42 million gift to 10,000 Degrees, a Bay Area nonprofit expanding college access for low-income and largely non-white students.According to a report by Fortune, this followed a $70 million gift to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) through the nonprofit UNCF. The program, launched in 2021, aims to help HBCUs close a funding gap compared to white or elite institutions and provide long-term financial stability for minority schools.Furthermore, over the years, Scott has donated to diverse causes including an $84 million gift to Girl Scouts, $20 million to Vermont’s Champlain Housing Trust, $436 million to Habitat for Humanity, and $275 million to Planned Parenthood. She also previously gave UNCF $10 million in 2020.
