(MENAFN- Live Mint) Billionaire philanthropist and Jeff Bezos's ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, has donated $80 million to Howard University, making it one of the largest single donations to a college with an African-American history.

This historic investment aims to strengthen the institution's infrastructure, while contributing to diversity and equity causes. This is, however, not the first time that Scott, the ex-wife of the Amazon founder, has donated to the university.

Scott, who is estimated to be worth $35.6 billion, as per the Wall Street Journal, has made several multi-million-dollar donations to different institutions and causes.

MacKenzie Scott's biggest donations so far

- Howard University: Scott had previously donated $40 million to the university in 2020 and another $12 million in 2023. With her latest donation, Scott's total donation to Howard now stands at $132 million.

- Alabama State University (ASU): The billionaire philanthropist also donated a record $38 million to Alabama State University (ASU), marking the largest single donation in the university's 158-year history, the institution said in a release on October 27 this year.

- 10,000 Degrees: She recently gave $42 million to 10,000 Degrees, a Bay Area non-profit expanding college access for low-income and mostly non-white students, a Mint report confirmed on 11 October 2025. This marked the largest donation in the institution's 45-year history.

- United Negro College Fund (UNCF): In September this year, Scott also donated $70 million to UNCF, as part of a campaign to strengthen endowments across 37 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The gift aims to create durable revenue streams and narrow historical funding gaps between HBCUs and predominantly white institutions, Fortune confirmed.

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- Habitat for Humanity International: In 2022, MacKenzie Scott donated a transformational $436 million gift to the nonprofit organisation that focuses on affordable housing.

- Planned Parenthood Federation of America: In 2022, Scott donated a record $275 million donation to Planned Parenthood, an organisation that provides a wide range of sexual and reproductive health services, including birth control, STI testing and treatment.

Scott has already donated around $2 billion to 199 organisations last year, a Mint report said, citing Yield Giving data, bringing her total donations to $19.25 billion over the last five years.

What is MacKenzie's source of wealth?

Mackenzie Scott's wealth primarily comes from her stake in Amazon, which she received in 2019, following her divorce from founder Jeff Bezo. As part of the settlement, she received approximately 4% of the e-commerce giant's stock, which instantly made her one of the world's wealthiest women.

Also Read | MacKenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos' ex-wife, donates $80 million to Howard University

Her wealth is also supplemented by the increase in Amazon's stock value and dividends from the shares she holds. According to Bloomberg Billionaire's Index, Scott's net worth stands at $41.1 billion. Since her divorce, Scott has announced more than $19 billion worth of charitable gifts, as per the index.

Shortly before her donation to Howard University, Scott significantly reduced her stake in Amazon, trimming her holdings by nearly 42% to about $12.6 billion, according to a recent SEC filing cited by Bloomberg.

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