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 his fortune will come to Rhode Island.
United Way of Rhode Island announced Tuesday that it has received a $ 10 million gift from Scott.
Forbes values Scott’s wealth slightly lower: it ranks it fourth in the world at $ 36 billion, writing:
Bezos debuts on the list after ending his 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, promising to give away at least half of his fortune, in May 2019.
Give a pledge
The funds are among the nationwide gifts announced today by Scott as part of his commitment to Giving Pledge to donate most of his fortune to charitable or philanthropic causes.
The gift of one of the richest women in the world was made in support of the United Way vision for a Rhode Island where “every individual in every community has the same opportunities for justice and prosperity.”
This is not the first big 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 homeless people.
“Beyond being an incredible and generous act of philanthropy, this gift further validates the critical importance of the work ahead of us to reverse the root causes of racial inequalities that hold back our state,” said Cortney Nicolato, president and CEO of United Way. “These funds will provide long-term support for the ambitious goals we have set for the next five years and which are part of a larger initiative that we will announce in January.”
“We are very grateful to Mrs. Scott for believing and trusting in our work and for making a huge investment in the future of our state,” Nicolato added.
For 95 years, United Way of Rhode Island has united its community and resources to meet the most urgent needs of the state and to move individuals and families from crisis to stability. The organization is committed to building equity and racial opportunities for all Rhode Islanders and will outline its community goals and investments in early 2021.