Mackenzie Scott

Spear’s Review

It is true, the speed and scale of MacKenzie Scott’s giving is extraordinary. As of August 2024 the billionaire philanthropist had given more than $17 billion to more than 2,300 non-profits since 2019, according to her website, Yield Giving.

But the former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos – Scott received a 4 per cent stake in the company following a 2019 divorce settlement – is also notable for the way in which she has gone about the process. She has often favoured ‘unrestricted giving’, a no-strings-attached approach designed to minimise the administrative burden on foundations.

Until recently, Scott chose to make donations almost exclusively based on what she has described as ‘quiet research’ carried out by her and her team. The unusual, one-sided approach has been criticised in some quarters for its lack of transparency. 

Perhaps this is part of the reason that Scott issued an ‘open call’ in early 2024 for community-focused non-profits to put themselves forward for 250 unrestricted $1 million donations. She later announced she would be giving $640 million to 361 small non-profits that responded to the open call.