MacKenzie Scott

Biography

Scott worked alongside Jeff Bezos during Amazon's first year and published two novels, winning an American Book Award for The Testing of Luther Albright. After her 2019 divorce left her with a large Amazon stake, she signed the Giving Pledge and began distributing her fortune at unprecedented speed through Yield Giving — large, unrestricted grants that let nonprofits decide how to spend them.

American novelist and philanthropist who helped build Amazon in its first year and has since given away more than $19 billion, mostly as unrestricted grants.

Known for

Her record-breaking, no-strings-attached philanthropy through Yield Giving.

Notable works & defining projects

• Yield Giving
• The Testing of Luther Albright (novel)
• Trapped (novel)

Notable achievements

• Gave away more than $19 billion by 2025, largely as unrestricted grants to thousands of nonprofits
• Won the American Book Award in 2006 for her novel The Testing of Luther Albright
• Signed the Giving Pledge in 2019, committing the majority of her wealth to charity

Timeline

1. 1994Worked at Amazon during its first year
2. 2006Won an American Book Award for her debut novel
3. 2019Signed the Giving Pledge and began large-scale giving through Yield Giving

Did you know?

• She studied fiction at Princeton, where she was a research assistant to Toni Morrison
• Her giving is famous for having no application process — organisations are contacted out of the blue