Amazon Owner's Ex Wife Gave Away 46% Of Her Net Worth Since 2020.
In 2025, Americans donated a combined $19.2 billion in what researchers call "megagifts" — charitable donations so large they exceed 0.1 percent of all giving in a year. One person was responsible for nearly a third of that entire figure: MacKenzie Scott, who donated $7 billion to more than 120 organizations through her philanthropic foundation Yield Giving, bringing her total giving since 2020 to $26.2 billion. Her top donations in 2025 included $90 million to Forests, People, Climate, $63 million to Howard University, and $60 million to the Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice. She gave all of it with no strings attached, no naming rights, no press releases, and no follow-up reporting requirements. There are zero buildings named after her. Her 2025 donations alone exceeded the lifetime giving of her ex-husband. She did not make the Chronicle of Philanthropy's top 50 donor list because she refuses to provide details on how her money is used. One academic called the exclusion "odd."
Scott's giving philosophy is simple and radical in equal measure. She and her team identify organizations doing important work nobody notices. Community colleges, HBCUs, environmental groups, and nonprofits serving seniors and veterans are favorites. She gives them an unrestricted sum large enough to be transformative and then walks away. "The potential of peaceful, non-transactional contribution has long been underestimated," she wrote in her December 2025 essay. Her net worth currently sits at approximately $38.9 billion, buoyed by the rise of Amazon stock. She has donated an estimated 46 percent of her net worth since 2020. She has declined virtually every media request. The money just keeps arriving.
