Tuesday December 15, 2020
MacKenzie Scott, formerly the wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is worth $ 59.6 billion, according to HowMuch.com. $ 10 million of her fortune is coming to Rhode Island.
United Way of Rhode Island announced on Tuesday that it has received a $ 10 million donation from Scott.
Forbes values Scott’s wealth a little lower – they rank her fourth in the world with $ 36 billion, writing:
Bezos makes her list debut after finalizing her divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in July 2019; the award-winning novelist received a quarter of her ex-husband’s shares in the e-commerce giant. MacKenzie signed the Giving Pledge and pledged to give away at least half of her fortune in May 2019.
Make a promise
The funds are among the nationwide donations Scott announced today as part of her commitment to the Giving Pledge to donate most of her fortune to charity or philanthropic causes.
The gift from one of the world’s richest women was made in support of United Way’s vision for a Rhode Island where “every individual in every community has an equal opportunity for justice and prosperity.”
This isn’t the first major gift from the Bezos, who announced their divorce in January 2019. In November 2018, GoLocalProv reported that Bezos and his wife donated $ 5 million to Crossroads Rhode Island to help fight homelessness.
“This gift is not only an incredible and generous act of philanthropy, it also confirms the critical importance of the work we have ahead of us to reverse the root causes of the racial inequality that holds back our state,” said Cortney Nicolato, president and CEO from United Way. “These funds will provide long-term support for the ambitious goals we have set for the next five years and are part of a larger initiative that we will announce in January.”
“We are immensely grateful to Ms. Scott for her faith and confidence in our work, and for making a huge investment in the future of our state,” added Nicolato.
For 95 years, the United Way of Rhode Island has been uniting its community and resources to address the state’s most pressing needs and move individuals and families from crisis to stability. The organization is committed to building racial equality and opportunity for all Rhode Islanders and will set out its goals and community investments in early 2021.