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February 29, 2024MacKenzie Scott – Why Did She Just Sell 1/4 of Her Stake in Amazon?
MacKenzie Scott – Why Did She Just Sell 1/4 of Her Stake in Amazon demystifies philanthropy and points charitable leaders to a online resource that celebrates a little known fact that “Billionaires Are People Too!”
I’ll answer the question about MacKenzie Scott’s latest move shortly. Here’s the better question. Are you in the charitable C-Suite? If you are, when’s the last time you visited THE GIVING PLEDGE? (That’s where you’ll find out why MacKenzie turned her stock shares into cash.) If you’re serious about nonprofit financial capacity-building become a vociferous student of this resource. It reveals the way philanthropists think. I encourage you to set aside your cynicism, read what donors have to say, and take them at their word.
Scott, 53, and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, just sold one-quarter of her stake in Amazon according Bloomberg Finance. Her share sale forms about 25% of Scott’s stake in the company and is worth $10.4 billion.
If you’d like to know why sold her stock, the answer is simple. SHE’S GOING TO GIVE IT AWAY. How do I know? She said so at the THE GIVING PLEDGE.
This latest offload means that MacKenzie has sold about half of her shares in Amazon, and her current holdings ranks her as the 35th richest person in the world.
NANOE co-founder, Jimmy LaRose points out, “Scott would be a lot higher up the rich list if it were not for her charitable contributions.”
“MacKenzie Scott would be a lot higher up the rich list
if it were not for her charitable contributions” ~ Jimmy LaRose
Scott indicated (on the Giving Pledge website) that she donated $2.1 billion to 360 organizations in 2023, bringing her donations to more than $16 billion since she signed the pledge.
THE GIVING PLEDGE is a non-binding promise that billionaires make to DONATE THE MAJORITY OF THIER WEALTH IN THEIR OWN LIFETIME.
Here’s the message MacKenzie shared when she officially made THE PLEDGE:
Thinking about the Giving Pledge, my mind kept searching its folds for a passage I once read about writing, something about not saving our best ideas for later chapters, about using them now.
I found it this morning on a shelf of my books from college, toward the end of Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life. It was underlined and starred like all of the words that have inspired me most over the years, words that felt true in context, and also true in life:
“Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book… The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better… Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.”
I have no doubt that tremendous value comes when people act quickly on the impulse to give. No drive has more positive ripple effects than the desire to be of service. There are lots of resources each of us can pull from our safes to share with others — time, attention, knowledge, patience, creativity, talent, effort, humor, compassion. And sure enough, something greater rises up every time we give: the easy breathing of a friend we sit with when we had other plans, the relief on our child’s face when we share the story of our own mistake, laughter at the well-timed joke we tell to someone who is crying, the excitement of the kids in the school we send books to, the safety of the families who sleep in the shelters we fund. These immediate results are only the beginning. Their value keeps multiplying and spreading in ways we may never know.
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. 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.
When MacKenzie first took the pledge five years ago I took her at her word. She didn’t disappoint. She’s distributed $16 billion to organizations JUST LIKE YOURS and she’s about to spend another 10.
Why? She’s a donor who keeps her word.
About the Author:
Jimmy LaRose is the author of RE-IMAGINING PHILANTHROPY: Charities Need Your Mind More Than Your Money, which has been named one of the 100 best philanthropy books of all time.
MacKenzie Scott – Why Did She Just Sell 1/4 of Her Stake in Amazon? was first posted at INSIDE CHARITY
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18 Comments
Oh, if we could only get philanthropists to donate to 501(c)(4)’s we wouldn’t have to remain an all-volunteer organization and could increase our effectiveness.
I commend Ms. Scott for all the good she’s done in this world. I myself am trying to receive help for my nonprofit Shaes place who helps those who have lost loved ones to gun violence. My daughter Shaelin was murdered on December 31 2021, and left behind a beautiful baby boy Noah,who will never get to see his mother .he was he was 11 months when his mother was brutally murdered. And I want to be able to help not only myself but those who are in the same predicament and can’t afford the help to get justice and help with expenses for the funerals,bills , relocation if necessary as well as help with taking care of the children of the lost ones. If anyone finds it in their hearts to help my nonprofit and myself would greatly appreciate it. Thank you and God bless.
I am praying for a donation so I can get this nonprofit off the ground and starting to build up my nonprofit so we can continue helping the less fortunate.
MacKenzie Scott is a beautiful woman after my own heart. I just love her! She glows with the peace, the joy, the fulfillment of promised blessings strategically shared. MacKenzie mentors true worth of character to all human beings of wealth beyond their needs. My admiration of her integrity, her mentoring knows no limit. God bless her. I do wish she would concider startup visions as worth a portion of her excess. There are so many of us who, like her and Jeff when starting out, need some faith factor seed sustenance to get over the hump. Perhaps that’s on her radar now. I pray so.
MacKenzie Scott is refreshingly beautiful, needs no boob job, puffed up lips, excess makeup, or sexy clothing to attract attention. What an incredible model of a truly valuable, worthwhile character she exemplifies to the world of women and girls. Thankyou MacKenzie.
A single parent taking care of 5+ children seeking help or donations… I’ve been doing this by myself for over 15 years… Saywhatwichita71@gmail is my email… Asking help from anyone in the name of Jesus…
I have a charity call to help me pay off my Home Foundationl
Ps i buys a few things from Amonzon when ican
Wow, so decent and inspiring. Thank you for sharing this.
What a blessing Ms. Scott is to those of us that have suffered unforseen hardships throughout our lives. My Mother and Father taught me at an early age that ” if you don’t have enough money to donate then donate your time and energy instead. ” Her philosophy on the giving pledge reaches so many deserving agencies and people. I plan to donate the rest of my time to the charities supported by Ms. Scott.
The best for this Ahuge Circulation of the Money.Helping too Many either corporations or people they work for or maybe individuals.
But you have to keep alittle for you self to survive.
You Never know What’s peoples intention till
get tested. And you have to investigate 🔎. It’s not easy. Some Corps they have the data if they are honest. It takes some time ⏲️ to know the Good The Bad And the Ugly.
On the top of this she still very beautiful. Thanks.
After reading about MacKenzie Scott, she should be a Saint. As a child, my Mother instilled in me to always help someone out when you can. I’m not in her league at all. But I try to donate to everything that means something to me. My brother-in-law started an organization to help out the homeless.
Doctor’s without borders help people in need of medical emergencies in developing countries around the world, who would otherwise suffer needlessly or die.
Ms. Scott is a modern day Saint.
Hello! My name is Gina. I am the founder and CEO of Pet It Forward Foundation. My mission and passion is to help keep pets and their owners stay together! I am looking to build relationships with donors such as MacKenzie. I appreciate donors who understand each non profits cause and believe in it enough to donate. Each non profit has their mission and passion in what they do and we can not do it without the help of wonderful donors! With that being said, Thank You.
She is an amazing human being, who wants to help humanity reborn again. GOD BLESS HER, AND OTHERS LIKE HER !
I’m at Jeff Bezos September 1, 1992 on Southwest Airlines flight number 844. I gave him $10 for his new start up because I was a single parent and that’s all the money I had. He showed us a picture of his beautiful fiancé. he was marrying up. He told me he would hold onto that $10 and invest it. He wrote a note put it in his planner. I suggested that he go with Amazon and not relevant since a was in the beginning of the yellow pages – lol he said I could work for him for as long as I want.
Well, I found the airline tickets try to get in touch with him and I can’t.
I have the airline tickets. Where is my job?
I met Jeff Bezos September 1, 1992 on Southwest Airlines flight number 844. I gave him $10 for his new start up because I was a single parent and that’s all the money I had. He showed us a picture of his beautiful fiancé. he was marrying up. He told me he would hold onto that $10 and invest it. He wrote a note put it in his planner. I suggested that he go with Amazon and not relevant since a was in the beginning of the yellow pages – lol he said I could work for him for as long as I want.
Well, I found the airline tickets try to get in touch with him and I can’t.
I have the airline tickets. Where is my job?