Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife MacKenzie to give half her nearly $37 billion fortune to charity
MacKenzie Bezos, whose recent divorce from her cheating hubby Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos netted her about $35 billion, has pledged to donate half her fortune to charity.
The 49-year-old novelist was one of 19 people Tuesday to sign the “Giving Pledge” campaign, which Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, launched in 2010.
“There are lots of resources each of us can pull from our safes to share with others — time, attention, knowledge, patience, creativity, talent, effort, humor, compassion,” MacKenzie said in a statement.
“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. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty,” she added.
With her statement, she becomes one of 204 people from 23 countries who have signed the pledge to give away half of their wealth during their lives or at the time of their death in a will.
Jeff Bezos, 55, praised his former wife’s philanthropic act on Tuesday.
“MacKenzie is going to be amazing and thoughtful and effective at philanthropy, and I’m proud of her. Her letter is so beautiful. Go get ‘em MacKenzie,” he wrote on Twitter, where he has 942,000 followers and follows one person – his ex-wife.
The Washington Post owner — the world’s richest man, with a net worth estimated by Forbes at $131 billion this year — has so far not signed on to the Giving Pledge himself.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether he will pledge some of his fortune to another charity.
MacKenzie didn’t specify how she would distribute her wealth through Giving Pledge, which didn’t immediately respond to a question from The Post.
The pledge that signatories make is “a moral commitment to give, not a legal contract,” the campaign says on its website.
The former couple of 25 years — who apparently had no prenup — announced they were divorcing in January, just before The Post revealed Jeff was dating TV host Lauren Sanchez.
The National Enquirer splashed their leaked love notes across its pages and described X-rated photos of Jeff — including a “below the belt selfie.”
MacKenzie acquired a 4 percent stake in Amazon when she and Jeff announced their divorce settlement on April 4. Her personal fortune is now worth an estimated $36.6 billion and ranks 22nd on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
She left Jeff with 75 percent of their shared stock in the e-tail giant, as well as voting control over the nearly 20 million shares she kept for herself.
Jeff kept all the shares in his newspaper, which he bought in 2013, and in his space company, Blue Origin.
Among her other philanthropic endeavors, MacKenzie has supported marriage equality through Washington United for Marriage; transitional housing for the homeless through the Day 1 Families Fund; and college scholarships for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as minors through TheDream.US, Variety reported.
She also is the executive director of the anti-bullying organization Bystander Revolution, which she founded in 2013.
Among the 19 people who signed the pledge are Brian Acton, the co-founder of WhatsApp; Paul Sciarra, the co-founder of Pinterest; and Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange.
“The generosity of this group is a reflection of the inspiration we take from the many millions of people who work quietly and effectively to create a better world for others, often at great personal sacrifice,” Buffett said in a statement Tuesday.
Additional reporting by Carleton English
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