I've long been critical of mega billionaire Jeff Bezos' relative lack of charitable giving. He's not a member of the Giving Pledge and actually, given his obscene net worth of $114 billion, doesn't contribute all that much to philanthropy And why? We don't know that, but we do know that it all lies on him because his ex-wife has joined the Giving Pledge. The ink is barely dry on her divorce settlement and MacKenzie has joined the ranks of billionaires who have committed to giving at least half of their net worth to charity in their lifetime. For MacKenzie and her $36 billion, that means she will donate at least $18 billion to charity. In the meantime, her ex-husband is still refusing to sign on to the Giving Pledge. Well, we know who we're siding with in this split now!
In a letter released on Tuesday, May 28th, MacKenzie Bezos announced in a letter that she had joined the Giving Pledge.The Giving Pledge was launched in 2010 by Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett. They were lauded at the time for being a new breed of billionaires committed to making global philanthropy a priority. The Giving Pledge encourages the world's billionaires to make bigger, more public giving a priority earlier in their lives.
Michael Kovac/Getty Images
There are currently 204 members of the Giving Pledge. MacKenzie said:
"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."
Her ex-husband praised her decision on Twitter:
"MacKenzie is going to be amazing and thoughtful and effective at philanthropy, and I'm proud of her," he said on Twitter.
A total of 19 new members of the Giving Pledge were announced on May 28th, including WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton, Pinterest co-founder Paul Sciarra, and cryptocurrency's derivatives exchange BitMEX founder Ben Delo.
