Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Bloomberg
Topics: Celebrity, Jeff Bezos, Money, US News, Amazon
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Celebrity, Jeff Bezos, Money, US News, Amazon
MacKenzie Scott's donation of $19 billion has had a 'transformative effect' according to a new study.
Novelist MacKenzie Scott and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos dated for three months before getting engaged and tying the knot in 1993.
After getting married, they quit their jobs and started Amazon, later announcing their divorce in 2019.
Scott - with whom Bezos shares four children - reportedly received around 25 percent of their shared Amazon stock, valued at around $35.6 billion at the time.
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And she's since gone on to give more than $19 billion of that away - having previously pledged to do so - but to where?
Well, The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) has revealed Scott has given 'more than $19 billion in unrestricted support to more than 2,000 organizations'.
It explains that her aim in donating the money for philanthropic purposes was to 'support the needs of underrepresented people from groups of all kinds'.
"Scott’s very large, unrestricted gifts – with few to no restrictions on the time in which they must be spent – have transformed recipient organizations and influenced many of the communities these organizations serve," a report by the CEP states.
Scott explained: "I needn't ask those I care about what to say to them or what to do for them. I can share what I have with them to stand behind them as they speak and act for themselves."
And data from nonprofits' tax filings has revealed the impact the grant from Scott has had on the organizations.
Two years after organizations received the grant, it's reported they had 'twice as many months of expenses in reserves as comparable nonprofits'.
One organization member said: "Through this grant, we were able to open a new clinic, expanding care to 12,000, many of whom are experiencing homelessness, live at or significantly below the federal poverty level, and have historically had limited access to the comprehensive and compassionate care we provide.
"Receiving this grant made such a difference in how [the entire leadership team] saw ourselves. It has made it possible to have the confidence to ask for the dollars we needed, not just the dollars on offer.
"This gift continues to pay dividends, not only for the organization, but for the people we serve," another added.
Others have spoken out about an improvement in stress levels 'in a way that has noticeable effects on [their] staff, family and health'.
Another reflected on reaching 'breaking point' and nearly quitting their job, but the grant reminding them the work they do is 'great' and there's 'so much more to do' - the grant offering 'the means to do it'.