Jeff Bezos’ Ex-Wife Suffers Financial-Related Loss as His New Wife Pushes Him to ‘Take Control’ Instead of ‘Staying Silent’
When Jeff Bezos divorced Mackenzie Scott and then married former journalist Lauren Sánchez, people expected that to be the last they saw of Scott in the headlines. And that has been so in many ways, but in others, it really hasn’t. Scott has made it her life’s mission to give away all the money she got in her divorce settlement, and has been doing a pretty good job of that so far. It’s just that her way happens to fly a little under the radar.
Scott reportedly donated more than $7 billion to more than 120 organizations last year through her philanthropic organization, Yield Giving. However, despite that, the Chronicle of Philanthropy doesn’t list her on its list of the top 50 donors of the year.
Related: How do Jeff Bezos’s kids feel about Lauren Sanchez?
Why? Well, because the lack of publicity to her donations makes them hard to track. “MacKenzie Scott is among the notable absences on the Philanthropy 50 list,” the Chronicle said. “While it is possible she made gifts to her donor-advised funds that would have earned her a spot on the Philanthropy 50, she and her representatives declined to provide such information to the Chronicle.”
And, since the donations couldn’t be confirmed, they couldn’t put her on the list. Fortune has reported that it’s impossible to contact Scott’s company, Yield Giving, but Scott has appeared on other donor lists, like the one put together by Forbes.
Scott has reportedly donated over 19 billion dollars since her 2019 divorce from Bezos. That’s more than Bezos, the world’s fourth-richest man, has given to charity across his entire life. Her net worth is reported to be around about $32.5 billion, according to Forbes. Her ex, Bezos, who still owns around 9% of the company he founded in 1994, has a reported net worth is of $230.2 billion.
All of this comes after reports that Lauren Sánchez is trying to help Bezos reshape his public image, and part of that for her means going out and meeting with people.
“Lauren genuinely believes people would love Jeff if they actually saw the real him,” one insider told Rob Shuter. “She thinks he stayed silent for too long and allowed critics to define who he is.”
The gossip columnist also reports that, at this point, she is Bezos’ closest advisor. “She’s his wife, best friend, public coach, and biggest cheerleader all rolled into one,” the source explained. “Jeff trusts her instincts completely.”
Her instincts appear to be that he needs to be more visible. “Lauren thinks silence makes Jeff look cold and detached,” another insider says. “She wants him out there talking, laughing, showing personality, and taking control of his own narrative instead of letting everyone else write it for him.”
But is that really the right strategy for Bezos? “Some advisers think Lauren approaches this more like celebrity branding than corporate reputation management,” a source also said. “But Jeff listens to her more than almost anyone.”
So we might have to get used to seeing more of Bezos, even as we continue to see very little of his ex, Mackenzie Scott. We, however, know what she’s doing with her silence.
