Philanthropist and billionaire MacKenzie Scott, who helped to co-found Amazon with her ex-husband, Jeff Bezos, has made another landmark donation to hundreds of organizations in need.
On Tuesday, Lever for Change and Scott’s organization, Yield Giving, announced that an impactful $640 million had been donated to 361 different nonprofits after the two organizations held an open call for “community-focused organizations” seeking funds that focused on advancing “the voices and opportunities of individuals and families of meager or modest means.”
Related: MacKenzie Scott Pens Essay on Philanthropy, Value of Donations
Lever for Change said that the open call received 6,353 total applications and had planned on only awarding 250 organizations with $1 million each but expanded the award pool. Now, 279 of the top applicants would receive $2 million each, and another 82 would receive $1 million each.
“We are excited that our partnership with Yield Giving has resonated with so many organizations,” said Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change, in a company release. “In a world teeming with potential and talent, the Open Call has given us an opportunity to identify, uplift, and empower transformative organizations that often remain unseen.”
Winning applicants span 38 states as well as Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico in both urban and rural settings.
Scott’s latest round of donations follow comments made by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in a now-deleted post from March 6 on X, which not-so-subtly took a shot at Scott and her divorce from Bezos.
“Super rich ex-wives who hate their former spouse’ should filed [sic] be listed among ‘Reasons that Western Civilization died,” Musk wrote.
Scott received an estimated $38.3 billion worth of Amazon stock (roughly 19.7 million shares worth 4% of the company) as part of their divorce settlement and has pledged to donate over 50% of her total wealth in her liftime or in her will to charity via the Giving Pledge.
Scott is known for mass donations to smaller organizations in large sums. For example, in December 2023 she announced through Yield Giving, that $2.15 billion had been donated to non-profits during that year.
Related: MacKenzie Scott Has Given Away Billions and Just Made a Record-Breaking Donation
The billionaire also made history in October 2022 when she donated $84.5 million to the Girl Scouts of the USA, the largest donation ever from a single individual.
According to Bloomberg, Scott’s net worth is an estimated $36.5 billion.
