The ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and one of the richest women in the world, Mackenzie Scott, has given away over $2 billion of the money she received from Bezos as part of a divorce settlement.
Scott has said 286 organisations linked to culture, racial equality, the arts and education will have the money shared between them.
In a blog post announcing the money give-away, Scott said:
"People struggling against inequities deserve center stage in stories about change they are creating. This is equally — perhaps especially — true when their work is funded by wealth. Any wealth is a product of a collective effort that included them. The social structures that inflate wealth present obstacles to them. And despite those obstacles, they are providing solutions that benefit us all."
She added:
"Because community-centered service is such a powerful catalyst and multiplier, we spent the first quarter of 2021 identifying and evaluating equity-oriented non-profit teams working in areas that have been neglected. The result was $2,739,000,000 in gifts to 286 high-impact organizations in categories and communities that have been historically underfunded and overlooked."
Scott also said that her husband, a science teacher, had helped pick which charities to donate to. He said in a letter:
"In a stroke of happy coincidence, I am married to one of the most generous and kind people I know - and joining her in a commitment to pass on an enormous financial wealth to serve others."
Scott had previously given away $4 billion to a number of female-led charities that focus on the rights and wellbeing of women and girls.
Scott inherited the money after her divorce from Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man, in 2019. Despite the money she has given away, she still has almost $60 billion left and is the 22nd richest woman on Earth.
[h/t: BBC]
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