$2.7 billion: Charity Lottery for MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Jeff Bezos | people

It all started with a mysterious email. The director of Fondo Semillas, a Mexican organization for feminist empowerment, had a message in her inbox from a consultant who confirmed that someone was interested in making an important donation. The selection process had to be followed with the utmost secrecy. The emails were followed by an interview that lasted more than two hours, and a comprehensive review of the documents, reports, and financial statements of the 30-year-old association. Throughout the process, which took several months, one condition remained: that the donor’s name be kept confidential at all times. behind this was One of the richest women in the world, Mackenzie Scott, the ex-wife of the founder of Amazon Jeff Bezos.

“It was all magically mysterious,” Tanya Turner, CEO of Fondo Semillas, says over the phone. Scott announced Tuesday via a post On Average which has donated $2.7 billion (nearly €2.3 billion) to 286 organizations “working to empower the voices the world needs to hear” that have been underfunded. The difficult selection process for the organization headed by Turner has been repeated 285 times more with charities dedicated to the arts, education, poverty alleviation, equality and social justice. Among the long list of ‘gift’ recipients are a Museum of Mexican American Art in Texas, a Hispanic Dance Company in New York, a South African Development Organization, and another to end discrimination against Muslims, the famous Apollo Harlem Theatre. , universities in California, Texas and New Hampshire, charitable groups in Puerto Rico and India… among hundreds of others.

“These are people who have spent years fighting for human progress without knowing many times if there will be money in their accounts for the next two months,” Scott wrote. average. She confirmed that the gifts are “relatively large” and clarified that they are both Like her current husband, science professor Dan Jewett, They do not intend to put themselves in the spotlight through the gesture. The philanthropist noted that nonprofits employ 10% of the workforce in the United States and have another 63 million volunteers.

Neither Scott nor Turner disclosed the amount donated, which has not yet reached the funds of the organization that weaves networks with women from all over Mexico. The fund manager asserts that it is a “significant” amount that will allow them to keep the job for at least another 10 years if they invest it well and grow it. It was a flexible and unrestricted donation. They gave us absolute confidence,” says Turner, who believes Scott’s election is also an endorsement of the work they have done with the feminist movement over three decades. Along with them, other allied organizations such as Rises p Women’s Finance Network.

Several lake organizations received an email that promised a large donation in exchange for a lot of information. The announcement led to mistrust as mailboxes filled with requests from Nigerian princes offering to share their fortunes. Many thought it was a scam before the security procedures started. “Mrs. Scott’s name had to be kept secret until I decided to make it public,” says Turner, who learned three weeks ago who was behind it all.

Scott’s announcement on Tuesday is the third since 2019, when she became one of the richest women in the world thanks to her divorce from Bezos, a separation that took advantage of her 4% stake in tech stocks, which today are worth more than $3,000 per unit. . magazine luck The 51-year-old writer’s fortune is estimated at around $60,000 million (about 50,000 million euros), making her among the 20 biggest fortunes on the planet. Bezos’ ex-wife, who is married to a science professor in Seattle, has continued to enrich herself thanks to Amazon’s increased earnings during the health emergency.

Scott promised two years ago to donate a large portion of his money with commitment a la iniciativa giving a pledgeBillionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett use it as a charitable tool. And he did it. On July 2020 Announce a millionaire deal. Another followed in December. During the pandemic, Scott has donated more than $4,000 million (about 3,400 million euros) to food banks, racial justice organizations, climate change, and LGTBQ community rights. In three rounds of donations, their gifts totaled more than $8 billion (about €6.7 billion). Generosity is born. Scott concluded that sharing does more.”

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