She did it again! MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, has donated yet another $80 million to Howard University, a historically Black college in Washington, D.C. If you’ve been paying attention, then you know this isn’t the first time Scott has opened up her wallet for Black college students across the country. But, it seems most folks are still confused about why she would even do so.
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Since divorcing Bezos in 2019, Scott’s net worth jumped to over $36 billion, according to Forbes, making her one of the richest women in America. She received a four percent stake in Amazon in their divorce settlement, essentially guaranteeing her, and her children’s children, wealth for the rest of her life. Despite the major financial win, Scott said she’s not satisfied.
“In addition to whatever assets life has nurtured in me, I have a disproportionate amount of money to share,” she wrote in a statement. “My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful. It will take time and effort and care. But I won’t wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty.”
With that, the billionaire vowed to give half of her wealth away throughout her lifetime through Warren Buffett’s Giving Pledge. She reportedly donated almost $20 billion to over 2,000 charitable organizations. Shockingly, Scott also donated hundreds of millions to a historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), which are infamously underfunded.
Outside of what many deem is the obvious “gotcha” to her ex-husband accused of cheating on her, Scott giving away millions at a time shows she understands the plight of Black institutions. Thousands of students at HBCUs like Howard, Morgan State University and Alabama State University rely heavily on financial assistance, largely from donations and government help. Given President Donald Trump’s slash to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), Scott’s philanthropy couldn’t have come at a better time.
To her credit, Scott grew up in a well-off San Francisco household, until her father’s finances took a brutal beating, according to Fortune Magazine. This led Scott to have to work her way through college at Princeton, giving her her first taste of the struggles of college life.
Over the past five years, she has singlehandedly donated more than $500 million to more than 20 HBCUs around the country, including Xavier University of Louisiana, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, North Carolina A&T State University, Clark Atlanta University and many others.
“MacKenzie Scott’s donations could fundamentally change the landscape of
opportunity for HBCUs and the students who attend them,” Rutgers University said of Scott’s generous donations. HBCU presidents have also praised the billionaire for her donations. In many cases, Scott’s contributions are the largest in the schools’ history.
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