Jeff Bezos ex-wife MacKenzie Scott gives nearly $1.7 billion of Amazon fortune to social causes

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ex-wife MacKenzie Scott, 48, has donated nearly $1.7 billion to various social causes linked to gender, race and equality.

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"I gave each a contribution and encouraged them to spend it on whatever they believe best serves their efforts," MacKenzie said, adding, "every one of them is tackling complex challenges that will require sustained effort over many years, while simultaneously addressing consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic."

MacKenzie who had taken 4 per cent stake in Amazon after the divorce with Bezos last year and saw her fortune rocket to $56.9 billion after the company's stocks surged over 4 per cent in the stock exchange earlier this month. Jeff Bezos owns 12 per cent of Amazon with a net worth of $171.6 billion.

Mackenzie Scott is now the second richest woman in the world after L'Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers. The Amazon founder's ex-wife said she had donated the money to at least 100 non-profit organizations. 

"Like many, I watched the first half of 2020 with a mixture of heartbreak and horror," Scott said.

MacKenzie Scott had married Jeff Bezos in 1993 and they have four children. Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in a garage in Seattle in 1994. 

During the divorce settlement, MacKenzie Scott gave up her stake in The Washington Post and Bezos's space exploration firm Blue Origin including her voting control at Amazon.

"Life will never stop finding fresh ways to expose inequities in our systems, or waking us up to the fact that a civilization this imbalanced is not only unjust, but also unstable," Scott said while revealing that NGOs related with racial equity received the maximum donation of 586 million with $399 million going to organizations on economic equality and the rest of the amount to non-profit organizations connected to gay rights, gender, public health and climate change.