MacKenzie Bezos Pledges to Give Half of $35 Billion Fortune to Charity
Fresh from her divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Bezos on Tuesday committed herself to giving half of her $35 billion fortune to charity during her lifetime. MacKenzie Bezos said…
Fresh from her divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Bezos on Tuesday committed herself to giving half of her $35 billion fortune to charity during her lifetime.
MacKenzie Bezos said she has signed the Giving Pledge, a commitment to philanthropy launched nine years ago by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, which her ex-husband has not yet signed. “In addition to whatever assets life has nurtured in me, I have a disproportionate amount of money to share,” Bezos said in a statement made on the Giving Pledge site where she vowed to donate generously to worthy causes.
The Bezoses in April finalized their divorce, ending a 25-year marriage. As part of their agreement, MacKenzie Bezos was to receive a 4 percent stake in Amazon registered in her name.
Before the separation, Jeff Bezos had a 16 percent stake in Amazon worth more than $140 billion, making him one of the world’s richest people. In her statement, MacKenzie Bezos was philosophical about her ambitious charity plans, without giving details on which causes she will support.
“My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful. It will take time and effort and care. But I won’t wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty,” she said of her Bill Gates and Warren Buffett-style wealth-giving.
She added, “Sure enough, something greater rises up every time we give: the easy breathing of a friend we sit with when we had other plans, the relief on our child’s face when we share the story of our own mistake, laughter at the well-timed joke we tell to someone who is crying, the excitement of the kids in the school we send books to, the safety of the families who sleep in the shelters we fund. These immediate results are only the beginning. Their value keeps multiplying and spreading in ways we may never know.”
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
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