'I'm Inspired By All the Ways People Invest': MacKenzie Scott Has Donated Over $2 Billion This Year. Here's Where the Money Went—and Why. Scott gave money to 199 organizations, and 75% were nonprofits focusing on economic security and opportunity.
By Sherin Shibu Edited by Melissa Malamut
Key Takeaways
- MacKenzie Scott, 54, donated $2 billion this year to 199 nonprofits.
- Scott has taken a trust-based approach to philanthropy, giving large gifts to organizations with no strings attached.
- Scott is a major shareholder in Amazon and sold $8.4 billion worth of Amazon shares last month.
MacKenzie Scott announced Wednesday in a blog post that she has donated $2 billion this year to 199 organizations. The 54-year-old billionaire philanthropist has now given away a total of $19.2 billion since 2019, per AP.
About 75% of the organizations that Scott has donated to this year are nonprofits focused on economic security and opportunity. They focus on causes like affordable housing, healthcare, jobs, and loans.
For example, last month, Scott donated $65 million to Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit that tackles the affordable housing shortage in the United States. It was the second gift Scott gave the organization; the first was $50 million in 2020.
Related: 'Wanted to Cry for Joy': MacKenzie Scott Donates $65M Gift to Housing Nonprofit
The remaining organizations focus on other causes related to human well-being, such as natural resource conservation and human rights.
MacKenzie Scott. Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images
Scott has taken a "trust-based" philanthropic approach, giving large sums of money over the past five years with no conditions attached to more than 2,500 organizations and detailed how her approach to giving differs from the rest.
What Does MacKenzie Scott Look for When Donating?
Scott has asked her investment team to find companies focused on for-profit solutions to the same issues that nonprofits tackle.
Instead of transferring funds from a personal bank account or stock portfolio, Scott would like to source her donations from a portfolio of investments she has made in ventures with the same mission as the nonprofit that will receive the gift.
This way the money has a two-fold purpose: first by "unlocking... innovation" in the private sector and second by "creating value" in nonprofits, Scott wrote in a blog post released Wednesday.
"I'm inspired by all the ways people invest in each other," she wrote.
Related: Girl Scouts of the USA Receives Largest Single Donation in Over 100 Years, Thanks to Mackenzie Scott
Most of Scott's wealth comes from the shares in Amazon she received after divorcing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2019.
She sold more than 45 million shares of Amazon stock valued at nearly $8.4 billion last month before making a $65 million donation to Local Initiatives Support Corp, a community support organization.
Scott is worth around $40.3 billion and is the 39th richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Related: Melinda French Gates Announces Open Call for $250 Million Fund. Here's Who Can Apply.
