Jeff Bezos’ Ex-Wife’s ‘Confidential’ Financial Emails Revealed After Report He’s ‘Hanging on for Dear Life’ With His New Wife
Mackenzie Scott’s philanthropy isn’t news in and of itself these days. Jeff Bezos’ ex has a stated goal of giving away most of the money she got in her divorce settlement to charity during her lifetime. And she’s put her money where her mouth is in that regard, donating huge amounts of money in the last few years.
The Wall Street Journal recently broke down how Scott chooses the recipients of her donations. The billionaire used to have an open call for submissions, but she has stopped accepting blind inquiries about donations and there is no application process detailed on her website.
Related: How do Jeff Bezos’s kids feel about Lauren Sanchez?
Instead, the website she maintains through Yield Giving explains the behind-the-scenes process for selecting recipients, which mainly involves “quiet research” with help from a “small internal” staff and advisers.
One example: In 2020, Albuquerque-based nonprofit Native Forward received $20 million from Scott. All the warning they had was an email to the organization with the word “confidential” in the subject line. There was a brief call, and then the donation came.
Another one, Heidi M. Anderson, president of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, a historically Black school, originally ignored the email from an unknown sender in 2020. When she finally followed up, the donation was set.
Scott donated $7.2 billion in just 2025 alone, which brings her total to a staggering $26 billion in the last five years. That’s more than her ex-husband Bezos, the world’s fourth-richest man, has given to charity across his entire life.
The philanthropist is reportedly worth roughly $39 billion right now, despite having given so much to charity. Her ex-husband Bezos, meanwhile, has a reported net worth of $230.2 billion.
In December of last year Scott published an essay on her website discussing her 2025 charitable contributions. “This dollar total will likely be reported in the news, but any dollar amount is a vanishingly tiny fraction of the personal expressions of care being shared into communities this year.”
And in 2019, right after her divorce, she wrote on another essay that “we each come by the gifts we have to offer by an infinite series of influences and lucky breaks we can never fully understand. In addition to whatever assets life has nurtured in me, I have a disproportionate amount of money to share.”
“My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful. It will take time and effort and care. But I won’t wait,” she wrote. “And I will keep at it until the safe is empty.”
The news about Scott comes as reports about her ex-husband focus on something else, his life with his new wife, Lauren Sánchez. And according to reports, it’s been an adjustment. “Lauren’s energy is non-stop,” a source told Rob Shuter, who described the two during the holidays. “She was jumping, dancing, laughing — and Jeff was hanging on for dear life. He looked wiped.”
“He’s happy, but he’s clearly worn out trying to match her,” another source said.
