Sharing the wealth! Following a pledge to give away half of her fortune to charity, billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, recently donated a combined total of more than $700 million to nonprofit organizations Planned Parenthood and Habitat for Humanity.
The women's healthcare provider announced that Scott donated $275 million to its national office and 21 affiliates. Her gift is the largest the 100-year-old group has ever received from a single donor. "This generous gift also comes at a time when access to sexual and reproductive health care is under attack like never before," Planned Parenthood said in a March 23 statement, "especially access to abortion."
A day earlier, Habitat for Humanity that Scott had donated $436 million to the group. "With this donation, Habitat is well-positioned to meaningfully advocate for the systemic and societal changes needed to improve equitable access to affordable housing," Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International, said in a statement.
The organization said it plans to use $25 million from Scott's donation to "expand advocacy for policy proposals and legislation that enable millions of people access to affordable housing through its Cost of Home campaign; increase Black homeownership in the U.S. by targeting current systemic barriers through an initiative that will launch this summer; and leverage innovative capital investments that service communities of color."
Scott, 51, is worth approximately $49.3 billion, according to Forbes. In 2019, she and Bezos—the second-richest person in the world—divorced after 25 years and received 25% of his Amazon stake. That year, she became one of 19 people to sign the "Giving Pledge." The campaign—created by fellow billionaires Warren Buffett and former couple Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates—calls for the wealthiest people in America to donate more than half their fortunes during their lifetimes or in their wills.
In a Medium post published March 23, Scott wrote she donated more than $3.8 billion to 465 non-profit groups, including Planned Parenthood, since June 2021, adding, "Our team's focus over these last nine months has included some new areas, but as always our aim has been to support the needs of underrepresented people from groups of all kinds."
She continued, "We don't advocate for particular policies or reforms. Instead, we seek a portfolio of organizations that supports the ability of all people to participate in solutions. This means a focus on the needs of those whose voices have been underrepresented."