Jeff Bezos' ex-wife donates $2.74 billion

MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder and the world's richest man, Jeff Bezos, announced Tuesday that it will donate $2.74 billion to 286 organizations, including art and anti-racism groups.

Scott, 51, pledged to donate half of her fortune, which Forbes magazine estimated at about $60 billion, to charitable causes, mainly due to her divorce from Bezos.

Last March, Scott married Dan Jewett, a science professor at Lakeside Private School in Seattle (northwest United States).

In an article published on Medium, MacKenzie Scott wrote, "Dan and I and a group of researchers, administrators, and consultants are trying to donate a fortune provided by systems that need to be modified."

"We are modestly convinced that it is better that unequal wealth not be concentrated in the hands of a few people," she added, noting that the money could be better used by the organizations that will donate to it.

Prior to this announcement, Scott previously revealed donations totaling more than $6 billion, highlighting the need to help those most affected by the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and reduce the unequal distribution of wealth.

The list of recipients to benefit from Scott's most recent donation includes New York's Apollo Theater, a US Children's Defense Fund, and university departments in California, Florida, Texas and Illinois, as well as social justice groups (Race Forward, "Borealis Vilantrope").