Jeff Bezos' ex-wife MacKenzie Scott donates $55M estate to charity

2022-09-09

Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife MacKenzie Scott donates her $55 MILLION Beverly Hills estate that she was awarded in their 2019 divorce to California charity – which will use 90% of the proceeds of its sale to house the homeless

MacKenzie Scott, 52, the ex-wife of billionaire Jeff Bezos, donated $55 million of Beverly Hills property to the California Community Foundation
It is her latest gift as she has given away $12 billion of her $42.5 billion fortune
Scott has given about six times as much in the last two years than Bezos has in his entire life despite the Amazon founder’s pledge to donate $13 billion
The most recent donation was announced in August but records have just certified the transaction, it was reported
It will go to a non-profit dedicated to the ‘systemic solutions addressing the most pressing issues facing Los Angeles County’
She has also donated $281 million to the Boys & Girls Club of America, the largest single donation in its 160-year history

Jeff Bezos’s ex-wife MacKenzie Scott has donated two Beverly Hills properties worth a total of $55 million to a California charity that will use a large portion of the proceeds to house the homeless and go toward an immigrant integration program.

Scott, 52, who was married to billionaire Bezos for 25 years, left their marriage in 2019 with 25 percent of his stake in Amazon, promising to donate at least half of her wealth over her lifetime.

Her most recent donation to the non-profit philanthropic organization California Community Foundation was announced in August, but Dirt.com reports that recent property records have just certified the transaction.

It represents the latest in Scott’s ongoing philanthropy spree where she has given away more than $12 billion of her estimated $42.5 billion fortune she was awarded in her divorce settlement, according to Fortune, including $436 million to Habitat for Humanity and $275 million to Planned Parenthood.

MacKenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife, has donated two Beverly Hills properties worth a total of $55 million to a California charity that will use 90% of proceeds to house the homeless

The 2.5-acre Beverly Hills property with a pool and tennis court includes a 12,000 square foot main home — described as a Spanish hacienda-style mansion, along with a guesthouse

The 2.5-acre Beverly Hills property includes a 12,000-square-foot main residence — described as a Spanish hacienda-style mansion built in the 1990s. There’s also a 4,500-square-foot guesthouse. There are 13 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms.

On the property, there is also a lap-lane swimming pool, full-size tennis court, patios for outdoor entertaining and parking for dozens of cars.

Scott was granted ownership of the property during her divorce from Bezos, which was $37 million at the time, but has since appreciated to $55 million.

It was reported that about 90 percent of the sale proceeds of the property will toward affordable housing and to help the immigrant integration program in Los Angeles, according to a CCF press release.

With gifts totaling $12 billion, Scott has given about 6 times as much in the last two years than her ex, Jeff Bezos (left) has in his entire life despite his pledge to donate $13 billion

MACKENZIE SCOTT’S RECENT DONATIONS

Mackenzie Scott has donated about $12 billion over the last two years.

Her recent donations include:

California Community Foundation: $55 million properties
Spelman College, the historically Black, all-women’s school: $20 million
Boys & Girls Club of America: $281 million
Communities in Schools: $133.5 million
National 4-H Youth Council: $50 million
Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity: $25 million
Meharry Medical College: $20 million
Guttmacher Institute: $15 million
Jed Foundation: $15 million
Leading Educators: $10 million
The National Council on Aging: $8 million
Shatterproof: $5 million
Young People in Recovery: $3 million

Since 2000, CCF has granted over $30 million to ensure Los Angeles residents have safe and stable homes, the press release stated.

Scott’s donation will support the expansion of grant-making efforts for an initiative to add 10,000 new units in the City of Los Angeles by 2026.

‘We applaud and are grateful to MacKenzie Scott’s extraordinary philanthropic investment in Los Angeles,’ said CCF President & CEO Antonia Hernández.

‘Her singular commitment — here and across the country – to transformative philanthropy has already secured the long-term future of dozens of non-profits. With the California Community Foundation, her generosity will support organizations struggling to solve some of the most intractable issues facing our community. We are grateful for her partnership.’

This gift follows an earlier, $20 million gift made to CCF in 2021 to establish the LA Arts Endowment Fund which will support diverse, small to mid-sized arts organizations that play a vital role in Los Angeles’ creative economy, it was reported by CCF.

Earlier this year, Scott also donated $281 million to the Boys & Girls Club of America, the largest single donation in the after-school nonprofit’s 160-year history.

Scott directed $256 million to 62 chapters of the Boys & Girls Club across the nation in March, with the remaining $25 million going to the organization’s national headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

‘Gifts like this are rare and have incredible impact,’ said Jim Clark, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, which serves more than 4.3 million children at more than 4,700 locations in the country.

She also gifted $20 million to Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee.

In February, Scott gave away about than $250 million, $50 million of which went to the National 4-H Youth Council, the agricultural-focused youth organization that serves six million children in the U.S.

She also gave Communities in Schools, a non-profit that helps keep at-risk children in schools, $133.5 million.

Leading Educators, another education nonprofit, got $10 million to provide professional development for teachers in the U.S.

Scott also donated to two organizations combatting addiction: $5 million to Shatterproof and $3 million to Young People in Recovery.

She then gave to two groups focusing on reproductive rights, the Guttmacher Institute and the Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity, which received $15 million and $25 million, respectively.

The National Council on Aging, a nonprofit that advocates for seniors, got $8 million, while the Jed Foundation, a mental health nonprofit, received $15 million.

In December alone, Scott donated about $4.1 billion to 384 organizations.

In less than, two years Scott has given away about $12 billion, more than six times what Jeff Bezos, whose net worth is estimated at $188 billion, has donated so far in his entire life.

Although the Amazon founder has pledged to give $13 billion to charities, Forbes estimated that Bezos has only dished out $1.5 billion, with the rest meant to be given away in the coming years.

Forbes estimated that Bezos has only dished out about $1.5 billion in charitable donations

Earlier this year, Scott donated $281 million to the Boys & Girls Club of America, the largest single donation in the after-school nonprofit’s 160-year history

The recipients of the gift from the Boys & Girls Club of America were vocal about what they described as a ‘generous’ and ‘humble’ gift.

Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee CEO Kathy Thornton-Bias, whose organization received $17 million, said in a statement: ‘In a time where Milwaukee’s kids are facing so many challenges, Mackenzie Scott’s donation will allow us to accelerate our work and meaningfully implement the strategies we have developed to address the needs of the teens and children we serve.’

Paul Martinez, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida, which received $6.8 million said: ‘This generous, unrestricted gift is an affirmation of the profound impact we have made on our young people over the past 60 years in Northeast Florida.’

Martinez added that the gift would help the Florida branch grow from 38 clubs to 55 clubs by 2025, allowing the group to help hundreds more than the 3,500 it serves today.

Scott has said she said the team used a data-driven approach, identifying organizations with strong leadership and results, specifically in communities with high food insecurity, racial inequity and poverty rates, ‘and low access to philanthropic capital.’

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