MacKenzie Scott became one of the wealthiest people in the world after she walked away from her 2019 divorce with Jeff Bezos with Amazon shares worth a whopping $36 billion at the time. Just a little over a year later, the value of her 4% stake shot up to $68 billion, making her the world’s richest woman and 12th-richest person in 2020. While she could have easily followed her ex-husband’s lead and splurged her fortune on private jets, mansions, and superyachts, Scott instead wasted no time using her money to make the world a better place. By the summer of 2020, the novelist had given away over $1.6 billion to various nonprofits; as of February 2025, the total amount she’d donated had surpassed $19.25 billion. And Scott has no plans to stop her philanthropic efforts anytime soon, not only because she genuinely enjoys helping others, but also because she’s been on the receiving end of kindness and wants to pay it forward.
In an essay published on the website of her foundation, Yield Giving, Scott shared that her decision to give away at least half of her wealth was inspired by people such as her college roommate, who helped her when she was struggling financially during her time at Princeton University and ultimately changed her life. “Whose generosity did I think of every time I made every one of the thousands of gifts I’ve been able to give? It was the local dentist who offered me free dental work when he saw me securing a broken tooth with denture glue in college,” Scott wrote. “It was the college roommate who found me crying, and acted on her urge to loan me a thousand dollars to keep me from having to drop out in my sophomore year.”
Scott’s college roommate has helped thousands of other struggling students over the years
MacKenzie Scott did wonders for her reputation by splitting from her ex-husband Jeff Bezos in 2019, and she has only continued to accumulate more goodwill by quietly donating billions of dollars. In just the fall of 2025, Scott gifted upwards of $700 million to several historically Black colleges and universities, including a jaw-dropping $80 million to Howard University. She previously vowed in a 2019 essay that she would keep giving away her wealth “until the safe is empty,” and she’s certainly put her money where her mouth is and done her best to make a dent in her still-massive fortune.
Aside from injecting more than 2,000 organizations with much-needed funding, Scott’s philanthropic work also inspired many others to follow suit, including Jeannie Ringo Tarkenton, the college roommate who loaned her money so she could continue her education. Tarkenton has helped thousands of other college students with financial difficulties through her company, Funding U, which provides loans at low interest rates without the need for co-signers. According to her 2025 essay, Scott immediately backed Tarkenton when she learned about her friend’s plans to create such a company. ” … after she saw the difference she made in my life, what was she inspired to do, 20 years later? Start a company that offers loans to low-income students without a co-signer,” Scott wrote. “And how quickly did I jump at the chance to be one of the people who supported her dream of supporting students just as she had once supported me? And to whom will each of the thousands of students thriving on those generosity- and gratitude-powered student loans go on to give? None of us has any idea.”
