COVID-19 has exacerbated inequalities that already existed

In May 2019, when MacKenzie Scott, the former wife of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, signed the Giving Pledge—a commitment by some of the world’s wealthiest couples and individuals to give away their fortunes—she made an additional vow to swiftly dispense of her billions: “I won’t wait,” she wrote.

Based on the past 18 months, we should take her at her word. The nature and rapid pace of Scott’s giving are nearly unheard-of in the philanthropic world.

“She’s disrupting the norms around billionaire philanthropy by moving quickly, not creating a private foundation for her great-grandchildren to give the money away,” says Chuck Collins, director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies.

Still, Scott is accumulating wealth faster than she can give it away. Her fortune, totaling $60.9 billion, has grown by $23.8 billion this year, making her the world’s 18th richest person.

The COVID-19 crisis, as we well know, has exacerbated inequalities that already existed. Scott is one of the few beneficiaries of the pandemic to acknowledge—even indirectly—this ugly truth; that she’s gotten richer because of a crisis that’s devastated so many.

She says as much in her Medium post: “This pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling. Economic losses and health outcomes alike have been worse for women, for people of color, and for people living in poverty. Meanwhile, it has substantially increased the wealth of billionaires.”

Scott could let her money do all the talking, but she seems determined insert herself into the conversation about mass wealth and inequality.

[Fortune]

This entry was posted in Grantmaking, Humanitarian Aid, Philanthropy by Grant Montgomery.