During the past few years, MacKenzie Scott has quietly been building her $26 billion philanthropic playbook. It’s largely included donations to organizations focused on DEI, education, social equity, environmental justice, housing, and food security.
But Scott has also helped organizations that’ve faced federal funding cuts from the Trump administration several times. Some of the key areas affected by proposed or enacted federal funding cuts include science and health research, education, environment and energy, public health and safety, community programs, and foreign aid.
Scott’s philanthropic organization, Yield Giving, has helped more than 2,700 organizations spanning nearly all of these areas, and some organizations have explicitly thanked the billionaire philanthropist for doing so. Her gifts are emerging as a safety net amid Washington’s pullback.
In 2025 alone, Scott donated more than $7 billion, making her one of the most generous donors by total dollars and by share of wealth given away: Her current net worth is about $31 billion, although her fortune will continue to be buoyed by the power of her Amazon shares she earned through her divorce settlement with her ex-husband and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Since 2020, she’s joined the ranks of the world’s most generous philanthropists, including Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, Warren Buffett, and Michael and Susan Dell—although Scott has donated a greater share of her net worth, which is much lower than the others.
