Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife MacKenzie Scott donates Beverly Hills mansions worth $55 million

Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott | Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Bezos finalized their divorce in 2019. In March, MacKenzie Scott remarried Seattle science teacher Dan Jewett and now focuses on her own philanthropic initiatives. She had received a 4 percent stake in Amazon, worth more than $36 billion. (Image: Reuters)

Jeff Bezos's ex-wife MacKenzie Scott has donated two Beverly Hills mansions, valued collectively at $55 million, to a California charity.

This is the latest act of philanthropy from Scott, 52, who has pledged to give away at least half of her wealth in her lifetime.

MacKenzie Scott and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos finalised their divorce in 2019. In the divorce, Scott, who was married to Bezos for 25 years, walked away with 25% of his stake in Amazon. According to Yahoo News, this amounted to a 4% stake in Amazon, making her one of the world’s richest women with an estimated net worth of $37 billion.

She was also granted ownership of a 2.5 acre Beverly Hills estate during the divorce settlement, which she has now donated to charity. The property includes a 12,000-square-foot main residence and a 4,500-square-foot guesthouse, along with a swimming pool and a full-size tennis court.

Scott has donated the property to the charitable organisation California Community Foundation (CCF).

In a press release, CCF said that 90% of sale proceeds will go towards the Foundation’s affordable housing efforts. “The remaining funds will be allocated by CCF to support its immigrant integration program,” the charity said as it applauded and thanked Scott for her “extraordinary philanthropic investment in Los Angeles.”

Since her divorce, Seattle-based MacKenzie Scott has given more than $12 billion to charity. Beneficiaries include the historically Black, all-women's school Spelman College, Planned Parenthood and Habitat for Humanity.