Daily US Times: MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder and world’s top billionaire Jeff Bezos, has donated more than $4bn to emergency relief funds and food banks in four months.
Ms Scott said in a blog post that she wanted to help Americans who were struggling because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ms Scott is the 18th-richest person in the world having seen her wealth climb $23.6bn this year to $60.7bn.
Much of her fortunes comes from Mr Bezos, who is Amazon’s chief executive and the world’s richest man.
In a blog post on Tuesday, she said: “This pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling,” adding that she had picked more than 380 charities to donate to having considered almost 6,500 organisations.
“Economic losses and health outcomes alike have been worse for women, for people of colour and for people living in poverty. Meanwhile, it has substantially increased the wealth of billionaires.”
In July, Ms Scott donated $1.7bn to 116 charities, saying she wanted to call attention to “organisations and leaders driving change.” This takes her total donations for the year to almost 6 billion dollars.
Donations were focused on those “operating in communities facing high projected food insecurity, high measures of racial inequity, high local poverty rates, and low access to philanthropic capital.”
MacKenzie Scott signed the Giving Pledge last year, promising to give away the majority of her fortune. The Giving Pledge is a commitment by the world’s richest individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to giving back.
You may read: US vaccinations ramp up as 2nd Covid-19 shot nears
