March 4, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo: Dia Dipasupil, AP)
Author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $US436 ($605) million to Habitat For Humanity, according to an announcement from the housing charity. Meanwhile, Scott’s ex-husband, Jeff Bezos, is continuing his mid-life crisis, wealth hoarding, and union busting. And his dick rockets. Don’t forget the carbon-spewing dick rockets.
Bezos, worth about $US187 ($260) billion, has been heavily criticised for his lacklustre charitable giving, despite the fact that he’s the second wealthiest person in the world. By contrast, Scott has given away a lot more money relative to her net worth since her divorce from Bezos in 2019. And it doesn’t look like she’ll be stopping anytime soon.
Scott, who’s worth roughly $US54 ($75) billion, has donated about $US9 ($12) billion to hundreds of organisations since her divorce, according to a tally by Bloomberg News in late 2021. And that doesn’t even include money she’s given away secretly. Charities have included education non-profits, LGBTQ+ rights groups, public health organisations, and countless others.
In late 2020, Scott gave away $US4.2 ($6) billion to help people struggling during the covid-19 pandemic, including to food banks, debt relief charities, and civil rights groups. And Habitat for Humanity, just like all the other organisations Scott has donated money toward, are tremendously grateful.
“This incredibly generous gift will allow us to dramatically increase capacity and implement programs that will have a multi-generational impact on communities around the U.S. and our global mission for many years to come,” Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International, said in a statement.
“With this donation, Habitat is well-positioned to meaningfully advocate for the systemic and societal changes needed to improve equitable access to affordable housing,” Reckford continued.
How did Bezos get a reputation as a penny pinching wealth hoarder? As just one example, Bezos donated just $US500,000 ($694,100) at the Baby2Baby charity gala late last year, which reportedly drew groans from the crowd when it was announced, according to Vanity Fair. Baby2Baby is an annual event that raises money for children in poverty. And $US500,000 ($694,100) is basically nothing to a man worth hundreds of billions.
Bezos gave $US10 ($14) billion to his own organisation in 2020, which was advertised as the largest charitable gift of the year, but you should always be sceptical when the wealthy give to their own organisations rather than an outside group. It’s often just a tax dodge and the money often sits unspent, sometimes for decades.
If you dig deeper on Bezos’s $US10 ($14) billion “donation” to his own charity, you’ll find just $US790 ($1,097) million was actually distributed to real climate change charities immediately afterward, according to Fortune magazine. And it turns out that $US10 ($14) billion won’t be distributed fully until 2030. Another $US443 ($615) million of his $US10 ($14) billion pledge was distributed in December of 2021, generating new headlines as though it was a brand new donation. But it all came from the same pot of money he committed to in 2020. Quite a PR stunt, if you ask us.
What’s $US10 ($14) billion over 10 years when you have $US187 ($260) billion? Pocket change. MacKenzie Scott is putting her ex-husband to shame in the philanthropy department. And Habitat For Humanity is thankful for the donation.
“This gift gives us the opportunity to increase and improve equity in our work, policies, practices and programs throughout our organisation, our affiliated network, but especially in the communities with which we partner,” Natosha Reid Rice, Habitat’s chief global diversity, equity and inclusion officer, said in a statement about Scott’s generous donation.
“We look forward to bringing diverse groups of people together to focus on the ways we can address systemic racism and injustices in the housing sector that continue to limit access and harm people of colour.”
You know what helps redistribute money when billionaires aren’t quite as giving as MacKenzie Scott? Wealth taxes. But good luck getting that passed in an environment where Republicans consider Joe Biden a full-blown Communist.