Amazon co-founder MacKenzie Scott more than doubled her initial donation to various charities shortly after Elon Musk tweeted that “super rich ex-wives” would be among the “reasons why Western civilization is dead.”
Musk later deleted the post. At the time, Scott, who was married to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos between 1993 and 2019, initially planned to donate $250 million to 361 different organizations.
“Super-rich ex-wives who hate their ex-souses. The reasons why Western civilization is dead,” the Tesla founder tweeted. Musk did not name Scott or Bezos in his tweet.
He was responding to a user who posted about Scott’s charity, calling it “the ultimate expression of the most horrible group in America.” Musk regularly criticizes progressive causes, recently calling DEI “another word for racism.”
The money was raised through Scott’s foundation, Yield Giving. In total, Scott distributed $17.2 billion, half of what she received in her 2019 divorce, which totaled $36 billion.
Amazon co-founder MacKenzie Scott more than doubled her initial donation to various charities shortly after Elon Musk tweeted that ‘super rich ex-wives’ were among the ‘reasons Western civilization died’ .
This isn’t the first time Musk has commented on Scott’s philanthropy. In 2022, he tweeted: “Safe to say MacKenzie (ahem) Scott isn’t exactly a big fan of her ex-husband.” »
This isn’t the first time Musk has commented on Scott’s philanthropy. In 2022, he tweeted: “Safe to say MacKenzie (ahem) Scott isn’t exactly a big fan of her ex-husband.” Unfortunately, many more people are caught in the crossfire.
Since beginning to distribute billions in 2019, Scott and his team have researched and selected organizations without an application process and offered them large, unrestricted donations.
In a brief note on her website, Scott wrote that she was grateful to Lever for Change, the organization that managed the open call, and the evaluators for “their role in creating this pathway of support for people working to improve access to basic resources in their communities. They are essential agents of change.
The increase in the size of awards and the number of organizations selected is “a pleasant surprise,” said Elisha Smith Arrillaga, vice president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy.
She is interested in learning more about candidates’ experiences with the process and whether Scott continues to use this process in the future.
Some 6,353 nonprofits applied for the $1 million grants when applications opened.
“The donor team decided to expand the number of winners and the amount of awards,” said Lever for Change, which specializes in philanthropic awards.
The 279 nonprofits that received the highest marks from an external evaluation committee received $2 million, while 82 organizations in the second tier received $1 million each.
Bezos and MacKenzie Scott at the 2018 Vanity Fair Oscars
Bezos pictured with current partner Lauren Sanchez at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscars party
Competitions like Scott’s open call can help organizations that don’t have ties to a specific funder gain consideration, said Renee Karibi-Whyte, senior vice president at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
“One of the best things about the philanthropic awards is that they shine a spotlight on people, organizations and institutions that otherwise would not have access to people in the centers of power and funding,” she said. -she declared.
Her organization also advises funders running competitive grants or philanthropic prize competitions to stagger the application process to reduce the burden of applying for any organization eliminated prematurely.
Megan Peterson, executive director of Gender Justice, a Minnesota-based nonprofit, said the candidacy was a rare opportunity for Scott to get noticed.
“After seeing the types of work she’s supported in the past, we thought, ‘Oh, if only she knew we were out here racking up wins,'” Peterson said.
Her organization recently won cases regarding access to emergency contraception and the right of trans youth to play sports. They plan to use the funds to expand their work in North Dakota.
Peterson said the funds must be used for tax-exempt purposes, but are otherwise not subject to any restrictions or reporting requirements — just like Scott’s previous grants.
“I think she’s really helping to chart a new path for philanthropy at large, one that fits into this philosophy: find people who are doing good work and give them resources, and then get out of the way,” Peterson said of Scott.
“I’m grateful not only for the individual support, but also for the way I believe it impacts philanthropy in general.”
The open call sought applications from community-led nonprofit organizations with a mission “to advance the voices and opportunities of individuals and families of meager or modest means,” Yield Giving said on its site Internet.
Only nonprofits with an annual budget between $1 million and $5 million were eligible.
The winners were selected through a multi-tiered process, in which applicants rated their fellow applicants and then the top organizations were reviewed by a panel of external experts.
Scott gave away $16.5 billion of the fortune she acquired after divorcing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Initially, she publicized the giveaways in online blog posts, sometimes naming the organizations and sometimes not.
It launched a database of its donations in December 2022, under the name Yield Giving.
In an essay on the website, she wrote: “Information from other people – from other donors, from my team, from nonprofit teams I have donated to – has been extremely helpful to me.
If more information about these freebies can be helpful to anyone, I want to share it.
CEP’s Smith Arrillaga said it was important that Scott “continues to honor her commitment to divesting her wealth, even as she reflects, changes and refines the ‘how’ of how it’s done and that she’s still trying to go. with the spirit of what she is committed to.