Jeff Bezos, the founder of “Amazon” and “Blue Origin”, is the richest man in the world. Thanks to his founding of the retail giant “Amazon”, Jeff has been in the spotlight for years. However, MacKenzie Bezos, the other half of the world’s wealthiest couple has largely stayed out of the spotlight until 2019. This fact changed in 2019 when the couple announced their plans to get a divorce. It was followed by detailed Jeff’s ongoing affair with Lauren Sanchez, published by the National Enquirer. While MacKenzie remained largely silent until early April, debate raged about the nature of their split. However, later she issued a statement on Twitter confirming their divorce.
Read the full statement here:
— MacKenzie Scott (@mackenziescott) April 4, 2019
Here’s everything you need to know about Jeff Bezos’s ex-wife, Mackenzie Bezos:
1. Mackenzie Is A Novelist
MacKenzie started writing at a young age. When she was just six years old, she wrote a 142-page chapter book. She studied creative writing at Princeton and wrote two novels, “Traps” and “The Testing Of Luther Albright”, the American Book Award winner.
2. Mackenzie Studied Under Tony Morrison
For her 1992 novel “Jazz”, the Nobel Prize-winning novelist, Tony Morrison hired MacKenzie as a research assistant who was then a student at Princeton. While talking to Vogue, Morrison referred to her as, “one of the best students I’ve ever had in my creative-writing classes… really one of the best.” She even helped MacKenzie find a literary agent later.
3. Mackenzie Met Jeff While Working At A Hedge Fund
Reportedly, MacKenzie was the first person Jeff interviewed at the hedge fund D.E. Shaw & Co. for an administrative assistant position in New York. She was instantly infatuated with Jeff. In 2013, while talking to Vogue, she said, “My office was next to his, and all day long I listened to that fabulous laugh. How could you not fall in love with that laugh?” They got engaged within three months and got married in 1993.
4. Mackenzie Was Indulged In Getting Amazon Off The Ground
In 1994, Jeff and MacKenzie moved to Seattle to start the business. According to The Everything Store by Brad Stone, MacKenzie worked as one of Amazon’s first accountants, helped in brainstorming names for the fledgling company, and even shipped some of their early orders. Reportedly, later when the brand began to find success, she stepped back to focus on her writing.
5. Mackenzie Adopted Three Sons And One Daughter From China With Jeff
The Bezos parents are famously private about their kid’s lives. However, while talking with Vogue, she revealed that Jeff and herself are hands-on in raising their children. They have experimented with a variety of education and parenting techniques. She said, “We tried all sorts of things including off-season travel, kitchen-science experiments, chicken incubation, Mandarin lessons, the Singapore math program, and lots of clubs and sports with other neighborhood kids.”
6. Mackenzie And Jeff Announced Their Divorce Together in 2019
On January 9, 2019, with a tweet from Jeff’s account, the couple went public about their divorce. The tweet was signed by both their names and read, “We want to make people aware of a development in our lives. As our family and close friends know, after a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends.”
Read the full tweet below:
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) January 9, 2019
7. Mackenzie Changed Her Last Name To Scott
After marrying Jeff, Mackenzie changed her last name to Bezos. However, she again changed her name to Mackenzie Scott after her divorce from Jeff Bezos. It is the surname derived from her middle name.
8. Mackenzie Is The Third Wealthiest Woman In The World
Scott was left with $35.6 billion worth of Amazon shares after her communal property divorce with Jeff in 2019. That’s because Jeff retained 75% of the couple’s Amazon stock. That is how in April 2019, she became the third-wealthiest woman in the world. Scott was ranked the 22nd-richest person in the world in July 2020 by Forbes with a net worth estimated at $36 billion. Soon enough her net worth was estimated to be at around $62 billion by December 2020.
9. Mackenzie Re-Married To A Science Teacher
After getting a divorce from Jeff, Scott re-married to high school chemistry teacher Dan Jewett. Their marriage was revealed in Jewett’s Giving Pledge letter which was posted on March 6, 2021. Jewett said in his The Giving Pledge letter, “In a stroke of happy coincidence, I am married to one of the most generous and kind person I know—and joining her in a commitment to pass on an enormous financial wealth to serve others.”
10. Mackenzie Is A Philanthropist
Scott signed the Giving Pledge in May 2019, which is a charitable-giving campaign. She undertook it upon herself to give away most of her wealth to charity. With a focus on racial equality, democracy, LGBTQ equality, and climate change, she had donated $1.7 billion to 116 non-profit organizations in July 2020. In December 2020, she had donated a further $4.15 billion to 384 organizations for providing support to the people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. She announced another $2.7 billion in donations to 286 organizations in June 2021.
