MacKenzie Scott, billionaire philanthropist and former wife of Jeff Bezos, donated billions in 2025 — yet her name was missing from the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s prestigious annual top donor list. The exclusion surprised many because Scott’s charitable giving last year alone reportedly exceeded the lifetime donations made by Bezos and his wife Lauren Sánchez Bezos.
According to a report by Fortune, the Chronicle said Scott and her representatives did not provide enough public details about donations linked to donor-advised funds, making it difficult to include her in the rankings. Experts say the issue is not the scale of her generosity, but the limited transparency around how donations are distributed through her philanthropic organisation, Yield Giving.
Scott’s giving far exceeds Bezos’ lifetime donations
Reports suggest Scott has donated nearly $27 billion since 2019, when she received around 4% of Amazon stock following her divorce from Bezos. At the time, the shares were worth an estimated $36 billion to $38 billion.
Meanwhile, Forbes estimates that Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos together have donated about $4.7 billion over their lifetimes — a fraction of Scott’s reported giving over the last few years. Despite giving away massive amounts of money, Scott’s fortune has continued to grow alongside Amazon stock.
ALSO READ: Meta employee laid off after 10 years shares heartbreaking post
MacKenzie Scott donated over $7 billion in 2025
According to Fortune, Scott distributed more than $7 billion to over 120 organisations last year through Yield Giving. The Chronicle of Philanthropy acknowledged her absence directly, stating:
“MacKenzie Scott is among the notable absences on the Philanthropy 50 list.”
The publication added that while Scott may have made donations large enough to secure a top position, her team declined to share enough information about funds flowing through donor-advised channels. The Chronicle also noted that Scott continues to avoid publicly disclosing how much money is being routed into the grant-making structure behind Yield Giving.
Universities and charities received major donations
Some of Scott’s biggest reported donations in 2025 include:
Howard University — $80 million
United Negro College Fund (UNCF) — $70 million
Meals on Wheels America — $70 million
Center for Disaster Philanthropy — $60 million
Virginia State University — $50 million
Alcorn State University — $42 million
African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund — $40 million
Spelman College — $38 million
Scott also recently donated $70 million in unrestricted funding to Meals on Wheels America, which supports meal delivery, wellness checks, and social support for more than 2 million seniors and homebound Americans annually.
Experts question her exclusion from donor rankings
Hans Peter Schmitz told The Conversation that Scott’s absence from the rankings was difficult to ignore. “I find it odd that MacKenzie Scott isn’t on this list,” Schmitz said. “She says she gave $7.1 billion in 2025. If she had met the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s criteria, that would have landed her in first place by far.”
However, Schmitz said the Chronicle’s methodology consistently leaves Scott out because she has never publicly shared enough information about how the donations are managed. “And that leaves her off the list year after year,” he added.
‘Kindness matters more than headlines’
Scott herself has repeatedly said philanthropy is not just about huge numbers or public recognition. In a December 2025 essay, she wrote that the money she donated was only “a vanishingly tiny fraction” of the care people show in communities every day.
She also argued that generosity cannot always be measured through rankings or financial totals. “The potential of peaceful, non-transactional contribution has long been underestimated,” Scott wrote.
