A few months into her divorce with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Bezos has announced that she will be giving at least half of her net worth to charity. The world's newest billionaire has done what her husband could not and revealed that she has already signed an agreement with the Giving Pledge.
The initiative is a movement that encourages all of the world's billionaires to dedicate at least some of their wealth to fund charitable causes.
The pledge was established by billionaires Bill and Melinda Gates as well as Warrant Buffet in 2010. Members of the initiative can choose to give their wealth either during their lifetime or as part of the will.
Since it was launched the pledge has so far gotten the commitment of around 204 individuals and families. Some of the most well-known figures in business are included in the list. This includes Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Airbnb founder Brian Chesky, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, and business magnate David Rockefeller.
MacKenzie is the latest one to sign up with the initiative, promising to give at least half of her $36.6 billion net worth to charity. This would mean that MacKenzie will essentially be giving away around $17.8 billion. MacKenzie is also part of a group of 19 new Giving Pledge signatories, which includes WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton, Pinterest co-founder Paul Sciarra, and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.
Following her divorce, MacKenzie became an instant billionaire, which earned her a place as the 22nd richest person in the world. If the Washington state common law was properly applied in her divorce, which was without a prenuptial agreement, MacKenzie could have become the wealthiest woman in the world.
Prior to their divorce, both Jeff and MacKenzie had pledged to give away $2 billion to nonprofit organizations focused mainly on helping homeless families and low-income communities. Despite their divorce, which was without a prenuptial agreement, Jeff still remains to be the richest person in the world with a net worth of around $114 billion.
MacKenzie mentioned in a recent statement that she simply had a "disproportionate" amount of wealth and that she just wanted to share it with the rest of the world. In a letter announcing her signing the pledge, MacKenzie mentioned that she will continue in her philanthropic work until the "safe is empty." MacKenzie's ex-husband expressed his support on social media and mentioned that he was very proud of her and that he thinks she will do great in her philanthropic work.
