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What is MacKenzie Scott’s Net Worth?
MacKenzie Scott is an American novelist and philanthropist who has a current net worth estimated at around $36.6 billion as of early 2024, making her one of the richest women in the world. Her net worth peaked at around $62 billion in late 2020 due to rising Amazon stock prices.
Scott acquired her vast fortune from her divorce settlement with her ex-husband Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. When they divorced in 2019, Scott received a 4% stake in Amazon, worth around $35 billion at the time.
Despite her immense wealth, Scott has given away over $17 billion to various charitable causes and nonprofit organizations since 2019 through her organization Yield Giving.
In 2019, she signed the Giving Pledge, vowing to donate at least half her fortune.
In 2022, she donated $3.8 billion to 465 organizations in just 9 months.
In 2023, she sold Amazon shares worth around $10.4 billion, about 25% of her stake.
In March 2024, she announced donating $640 million to 361 nonprofits, doubling her initial $250 million pledge.
Despite her prolific charitable donations, Scott remains one of the richest women globally, currently ranked around 3rd to 5th richest depending on the estimate, thanks to her remaining Amazon holdings.
Here’s the breakdown of MacKenzie Scott’s net worth:
Name: | Stephen Schwarzman |
Net Worth: | $38.8 Billion |
Date of Birth: | Feb 14, 1947 |
Profession: | Novelist |
If you’re curious about how we estimate a celebrity’s net worth, you can check out our methodology here.
Early Life
MacKenzie Scott (née Tuttle) was born on April 7, 1970 in San Francisco, California. Her father was a financial planner and her mother was a homemaker. She developed a passion for writing from a young age, penning her first novel at just 6 years old.
Scott attended the prestigious Hotchkiss School in Connecticut before going on to study English at Princeton University. To afford her education at Princeton, she had to work over 30 hours per week in addition to her coursework due to her family’s financial struggles. At Princeton, she had the opportunity to study under the renowned author Toni Morrison, who served as her thesis advisor.
Meeting Jeff Bezos
After graduating from Princeton in 1992, Scott moved to New York City and took a job as a research associate at the hedge fund D.E. Shaw. It was there that she met Jeff Bezos, who was a vice president at the firm. The two began dating and were engaged just 3 months later, marrying in 1993.
In 1994, the newlywed couple quit their jobs at D.E. Shaw and moved across the country to Seattle, where Bezos founded Amazon out of their garage. Scott was one of Amazon’s earliest employees, working as an accountant for the fledgling company.
Amazon
While Jeff Bezos led Amazon as founder and CEO, MacKenzie Scott played an important supporting role in the company’s early days. She is credited with negotiating Amazon’s first freight contracts and doing the company’s accounting work.
As Amazon grew into an e-commerce giant, so too did the Bezos family’s wealth and net worth from Jeff’s ownership stake. Scott maintained a relatively low profile, focusing on her writing career and family life with her four children.
MacKenzie Bezos Divorce Settlement
In January 2019, Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos announced their plans to divorce after 25 years of marriage. Their divorce was finalized in April 2019.
As part of the settlement, MacKenzie Bezos kept 25% of the couple’s Amazon stock, giving her a 4% stake in the company worth around $38.3 billion at the time. This made her one of the wealthiest women in the world overnight.
The settlement also transferred MacKenzie’s interests in The Washington Post and Blue Origin to Jeff Bezos. She kept her maiden name Scott after the divorce.
With her new billions, Scott signed the Giving Pledge in May 2019, committing to donating at least half her fortune to charity. She has since given away over $14 billion to various non-profit organizations through her Yield Giving initiative, revolutionizing philanthropy.
Second Marriage
After her high-profile divorce from Jeff Bezos in 2019, MacKenzie Scott married Dan Jewett, a science teacher at the prestigious Lakeside School in Seattle, where her children attended. The marriage was publicly revealed in March 2021 when Jewett posted a letter on the Giving Pledge website, expressing his commitment to join Scott in her philanthropic efforts.
However, the marriage was short-lived. In September 2022, Scott filed for divorce from Jewett, which was finalized in January 2023. The divorce was amicable, with Jewett not seeking spousal support, and the division of property and assets was handled according to a prenuptial agreement. Despite the end of her second marriage, Scott continued her philanthropic activities, donating billions to various causes.
Real Estate
MacKenzie Scott’s real estate holdings have also contributed to her net worth. One notable example is her donation of two Beverly Hills mansions, valued at a combined $55 million, to the California Community Foundation in 2022. The foundation planned to use the proceeds from the sale of these properties to support affordable housing and immigrant integration initiatives in Los Angeles County.
These two properties were significant assets in Scott’s real estate portfolio. One of the mansions, built in 1956, featured four bedrooms and six bathrooms, spanning 4,568 square feet. The second residence, built in 1994, was much larger, with seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms, covering 11,891 square feet.
Ashley Roberts is the founder of Real-Time Billionaires List. She founded this platform because she likes to know how much celebrities are actually making. She is always curious why these people can make much more money than the ordinary person.
With a Bachelor’s degree in finance, she is skilled at financial analysis and understands numbers related to wealth. Most of the articles on this site are edited by herself before publishing.