MacKenzie Bezos pledges to give away half her fortune, but how?
In early April she said she was excited about her own plans following a divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Now we know what MacKenzie Bezos might be excited about: giving away a huge chunk of her wealth.
MacKenzie Bezos added her name to the Giving Pledge – meaning she is promising to give away more than half of her estimated $36 billion of wealth. Here are a few of her options.
She doesn't have to do it. The Giving Pledge is not an enforceable contract. It was created in 2010 by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett to set a higher giving standard for the ultra-wealthy. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that they are pledging half their wealth,” said Maria DiMento, a reporter for the Washington DC-based Chronicle of Philanthropy. “It is a loose commitment…it’s very broad and open-ended.”
She can give it to the Gates Foundation. Buffett went on to give billions to the Gates Foundation to manage. But David Callahan, editor of Inside Philanthropy, said that is rare: most ultra-wealthy people set up their own foundations or find other means to give. He says it’s more likely MacKenzie Bezos will do that.
There's always Day One (the foundation). Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos established the Day One Fund just last year. The couple earmarked $2 billion to help homeless families and put preschools in low-income communities, but the site appears unchanged since last November. They announced they would seek a divorce in January of this year. Both DiMento and Callahan said it’s not likely MacKenzie Bezos would pursue her own philanthropy using this structure. It's far more likely she will form her own foundation from the ground up. Memo to Jeff Bezos: it may be Day Two at the Day One Fund.
She can take it with her. Bezos can reserve most of her giving until after her death. Many of the ultra-rich do this, but that does not appear to be her plan. In a statement on the Giving Pledge site, Bezos says her approach to philanthropy will require “time and effort and care. But I won’t wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty.”
To David Callahan, that implies that MacKenzie Bezos “will be very involved. My guess is it will be a foundation with a hybrid of charitable giving and impact investing” where a philanthropist invests in a for-profit company that has a business idea that will assist others.
Bezos’s own statement mentions no specifics.
Jeff Bezos tweeted his support to his ex-wife: “MacKenzie is going to be amazing and thoughtful and effective at philanthropy” he said. MacKenzie Bezos did not reply: she has only tweeted once, and that was to announce her divorce agreement.
Twitter users did reply, with many urging Bezos to also join the Giving Pledge or contribute more through the tax system. “Love people with no money telling rich people what to do,” tweeted one user. “Usually it’s the other way around,” replied another.
