MacKenzie Bezos Signs a Pledge to Give Half Her Fortune to Charity—Your Move, Jeff
And now: a lesson in taking the high road. In January, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife of 25 years, MacKenzie Bezos, announced their divorce, amid tabloid reports of his intimate texts to another woman (recall the infamous message “I love you, alive girl.”) The split made MacKenzie one of the richest women in the world, with an estimated $35 billion in assets. On Tuesday, it was reported that she would donate at least half of that fortune—roughly $17 billion—to charity through the Giving Pledge, an initiative founded by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett in 2010. It’s a promise, notably, that her ex-husband, Jeff, reported to be the world’s richest man, with an estimated net worth of $114 billion, has yet to make.
In a letter dated May 25, but released by the Giving Pledge on Tuesday, MacKenzie said: “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.” MacKenzie was Amazon’s first accountant and is a novelist and the executive director of anti-bullying organization, Bystander Revolution.
When Buffett and the Gateses founded the pledge to encourage the world’s wealthiest people to give at least half of their riches to charity, it was stipulated that signers could do so while alive and/or in their wills. But MacKenzie indicated that she wouldn’t waste any time: “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.”
MacKenzie’s move makes even more glaring the absence of the the Amazon CEO from the more than 200 people on the Giving Pledge list. Conveniently alphabetized on its website for perusing, it includes Michael Bloomberg, Richard and Joan Branson, Spanx founder Sara Blakely, and Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg. (Another new addition announced on Tuesday: Brian Acton, the co-founder of WhatsApp.) MacKenzie’s pledge once again raises the criticism that Bezos—for all of his wealth, and all of the allegations of his exploitation of low-income laborers to make Amazon Prime happen—gives away only a fraction to charity. Last year, he announced he’d donate $2 billion to homelessness and early childhood programs—less than 2 percent of his estimated net worth. And, now, 48 percent less than his ex-wife and the mother of his four children.
In light of the scandal that has swirled around the couple, and the ongoing debate about the workplace ethics of Amazon, Mackenzie’s pledged generosity may be the best thing to ever come out of the company. One might say its. . .prime benefit. Your move, Jeff.
Originally Appeared on Vogue
