Meet American novelist and philanthropist, Mackenzie Scott. In 2024, she donated USD 2 billion, and here's all you need to know about her marriage and divorce from Jeff Bezos and Dan Jewett.
Mackenzie Scott is one of the biggest names in the philanthropy space worldwide. She currently sits in the 55th spot on Forbes' List of the World's Biggest Real-Time Billionaires, with an estimated net worth of USD 31.8 billion. Not only this, but she is in the ninth spot on the World's Most Powerful Women 2024 and ranked twenty-sixth in America's Wealthiest People in 2024.
The billionaire philanthropist is once again making headlines after she donated USD 2 billion to 199 different organisations in 2024. The considerable donation has taken Mackenzie Scott's total contributions since 2019 to a mammoth USD 19.2 billion. Apart from being an active philanthropist, Mackenzie is also an author, who has penned two books, The Testing of Luther Albright in 2005 and Traps in 2013.
In 2006, Mackenzie Scott was honoured with the prestigious American Book Award for her debut novel, The Testing of Luther Albright. Not only this, but in 2021, she was named on TIME's 100 Most Influential People list in 2020. In terms of her personal life, she is the first wife of the world's second richest person, Jeff Bezos, who is the founder of the renowned e-commerce brand, Amazon.
Mackenzie Scott and Jeff Bezos' love story dates back to the time when the former was looking for a job after graduation in New York City. After attaining a graduation degree in English from Princeton University, Mackenzie shifted to NYC and gave a job interview at an investment management firm. Her interview was conducted by Jeff Bezos, who was tasked to conduct her interview in the initial rounds. After working together for some time, Jeff and Mackenzie started dating.
However, within the first three months after their first date, Jeff Bezos and Mackenzie Scott got engaged and were married within six months. After their wedding in 1993, they quit their respective jobs to start Amazon. In the following years, the couple welcomed three sons and adopted a daughter from China because Mackenzie wanted to expand their family through adoption. After being together in marriage for 25 years, it was in January 2019 that Jeff and Mackenzie parted ways.
Jeff Bezos paid Mackenzie Scott a hefty USD 38.3 billion in Amazon shares as a divorce settlement. The ex-couple never revealed the exact reasons behind their decision to part ways after 25 years of marriage. However, some media reports speculated that their divorce was due to Jeff's growing bond with Lauren Sanchez. The rumours went out of hand when Jeff made his relationship with Lauren public soon after his divorce from Mackenzie.
After parting ways with Jeff Bezos, Mackenzie Scott fell in love with a science teacher named Dan Jewett, and they got married in March 2021. It was shocking for everyone to see Mackenzie tying the knot with a science teacher who used to teach children at Seattle's Lakeside School. Unfortunately, after being together for a year, it was in September 2022 when Mackenzie filed for divorce and in January 2023, she parted ways with Dan Jewett. As of now, Mackenzie is not romantically involved with anyone and is pursuing her philanthropic goals.
The world's richest person, Elon Musk, lashed out at Mackenzie Scott for donating huge amounts of money. The billionaire targeted Mackenzie's charitable endeavours by speculating that she donated money to Democrats, who reportedly attacked Tesla. Not only this, but Elon also added that Mackenzie had been allegedly funding tech industry moguls to retaliate against her ex-husband, Jeff Bezos. However, the Tesla founder took his tweet down after initial backlash on social media.
What are your thoughts on Mackenzie Scott's two divorces and her donation of huge amounts of money to organisations? Let us know.
Also Read: Who Is Lauren Sanchez? Jeff Bezos Girlfriend, USD 600 Million Wedding, Three Kids From Ex-Partners