Despite being one of the most charitable modern-day philanthropists, Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, has surprisingly missed out on a renowned list of the top donors of 2025. The esteemed novelist gave away a reported $7 billion in donations last year. Yet, she did not feature in the said list due to the unique but secretive way she practices philanthropy.
Mackenzie Scott left out of donor list for a reason
Despite the humongous amount of donations made by Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife in 2025, the Chronicle of Philanthropy decided against including her in its Top 50 Donors list, albeit due to a legitimate reason.
MacKenzie Scott donated more than $7 billion to in excess of 120 organizations through her fund, Yield Giving. She parted ways with more money last year than Bezos has pledged to charity all his life. But Scott did so under the radar, without sharing any insight about her donations, as per the Chronicle.
The magazine noted, “MacKenzie Scott is among the notable absences on the Philanthropy 50 list. While it is possible she made gifts to her donor-advised funds that would have earned her a spot on the Philanthropy 50, she and her representatives declined to provide such information to the Chronicle.”
Moreover, the publication reported that Yield Giving has repeatedly refused to share information regarding the 56-year-old philanthropist’s donations. This makes it impossible to draw an accurate estimate of her charity.
“Scott awarded grants totaling about $7 billion to at least 120 charities last year through her Yield Giving fund, but she continues to decline to provide details about how much money she is funneling into the grant maker,” the Chronicle of Philanthropy added.
Meanwhile, Hans Peter Schmitz of North Carolina State University also spoke in favor of Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife. He told The Conversation, “I find it odd that MacKenzie Scott isn’t on this list. She says she gave $7.1 billion in 2025. If she had met the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s criteria, that would have landed her in first place by far.”
Additionally, as per Fortune, MacKenzie Scott has reportedly donated more than $26 billion since 2020. In comparison, Jeff Bezos and his present wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, have only contributed an estimated $4.7 billion in philanthropy in their entire lifetimes.
Nevertheless, Scott has not commented on her exclusion from the Top 50 Donors list.
Originally reported by Apoorv Rastogi on Mandatory.
