When Amazon gajillionaire Jeff Bezos and his wife Mackenzie Scott divorced she ended up with wealth beyond anything we could imagine -- and then it grew because of her stock holdings. Her settlement was roughly $30 billion US in 2019 but it has nearly doubled, making her the wealthiest woman in the world.
So, is she going to compete with the male billionaires who are giddy about their pony ride versions of the space rodeo. Nope. She's committed to giving it away and she hasn't wasted time. Bloomberg has attempted to track her giveaways and they total 786 so far with more than $4 billion confirmed and a possible $8 billion in total. That's, like, a lotta lot.
According to the Bloomberg piece:
More than $1.6 billion has gone to education nonprofits and colleges and universities, with historically Black institutions, two year colleges and Hispanic Serving Institutions fielding most of the contributions. Social assistance organizations, which feed, house and support those in need, like Goodwill and YMCA, got about $1 billion and another $1.2 billion went to philanthropy and grantmaking infrastructure nonprofits that focus on the business of fundraising, advocacy and philanthropy itself. At least two of those, the Bridgespan Group and Lever For Change, have worked directly with Scott on her giving.
Hey, she won't need to shop for bargains anytime soon, but this is impressive. Many of the organizations figured that the emails they received with news of her largesse were scams or pranks. Instead Scott's generosity has expanded their scope immeasurably.
Some of these organizations are faith based including: Faith in Action, Faith in Public Life, HIAS, Repair the World, Inner-City Muslim Action Network, Muslim Advocates, Pillars Fund, Homeboy Industries and Repairers of the Breach. Scott is committed to supporting organizations bridging divides through interfaith support and collaboration,” Scott wrote.
We know that there are issues within Amazon about the way employees are paid and treated, and Amazon pays little or no tax in some jurisdictions while Bezos becomes even more obscenely wealthy. Obviously Scott is a beneficiary of these questionable practices. I still have to admire what she is doing and hope that hundreds more doers of good deeds benefit from her plan.
In the meantime, all of us regular schleps can continue to share what God has provided to us with generosity and compassion. Remember Jesus commending the woman for offering her "widow's mite?" (Mark 12:41–44, Luke 21:1–4)
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