MacKenzie Scott Has Given Away Billions and Just Made a Record-Breaking Donation Following her divorce from Jeff Bezos and a $38.3 billion settlement, Scott became the world's richest woman in September 2020, with an estimated net worth of $60 billion at that time.
By Amanda Breen
Mackenzie Scott, billionaire philanthropist and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has donated $133.5 million to education nonprofit Communities In Schools (CIS), CBS News reports.
The donation, the largest unrestricted gift in the organization's history, could help millions of students across the country who have had their lives and educations upended by the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to CIS's website, its staff work in 2,900 schools in 26 U.S. states plus Washington, D.C., bringing communities of support to students and ensuring access to critical resources like food, technology and school supplies, emotional support and more. In the 2020-21 school year, 99% of CIS's students stayed in school for the duration of the academic year, 96% were promoted to the next grade level, and 93% of seniors graduated or recieved a GED.
Related: MacKenzie Scott Pens Essay on Philanthropy, Value of Donations
President and CEO of Communities in Schools Rey Saldaña, who is also an alumnus of the program, told CBS Mornings that he was overjoyed at the news of Scott's generous gift. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because you think about all of the work that you can do," he said. "What this allows us to do is really bring community support inside our schools to empower students to not just graduate from school but achieve in life."
Following her divorce from Bezos and a $38.3 billion settlement, Scott became the world's richest woman in September 2020, with an estimated net worth of $60 billion at that time. She has donated billions of her fortune over the years.
In 2020, she gifted over $4 billion to 384 organizations across the U.S. in a four-month period, and she made headlines again in 2021 when she donated another $2.7 billion to 286 organizations on behalf of herself and her husband, Dan Jewett. Some of the organizations that received donations include the Save the Music Foundation, United States Artists, The Freedom Fund and Girls First Fund.
Related: Melinda French Gates, Mackenzie Scott Direct $40 Million to Empower Women
Forbes estimates Scott has a current net worth of $45.5 billion.
