Meet the billionaire ex-wives club giving away their fortunes: inside MacKenzie Scott, Melinda French Gates, Elaine Wynn and Sue Ann Arnall’s philanthropic efforts

Feb 17 , 2022

Learn more about these billionaire ex-wives and what they’ve been up to. Photos: AP, @melindafrenchgates, @habit_la/Instagram; Reuters

The former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos promises to hand out her billions ‘until the safe is empty’, while Bill Gates’ ex is giving away her Microsoft fortune

MacKenzie Scott and Melinda French Gates are following in the footsteps of casino maven Elaine Wynn and Sue Ann Arnall, the ex of oil baron Harold Hamm

Billionaire break-ups are seemingly becoming a trend in recent years, with Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott divorcing in 2019 and Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates following in their footsteps in 2021.

While their ex-hubbies continue their race to become the world’s richest person, MacKenzie Scott and Melinda French Gates devote their time to giving away billions of dollars.

Let’s take a closer look at how these equally powerful and wealthy women are stepping up to support individuals and organisations in need – and the ex-wives that went before them.

1. MacKenzie Scott

MacKenzie Scott stormed the philanthropy world in 2020 with US$5.7 billion in unrestricted donations to hundreds of charities. Photo: AP

American novelist and billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott parted ways with Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos in 2019 after 25 years of marriage. After their divorce, she received a 4 per cent stake in Amazon, which was then valued at US$35 billion. Since then, Scott has already unloaded more than US$8.5 billion to hundreds of organisations focused on gender equality, racial justice, public health and other causes, per CNN.

Jeff Bezos and his then wife MacKenzie Scott arrive at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in 2019. Photo: AP

Scott continues to make waves for her enormous and fast-paced donations in 2022, staying true to her widely quoted promise to hand out her fortune “until the safe is empty”. According to The Washington Post, the Princeton graduate donated a whopping US$133.5 million to the educational non-profit Communities in School this month.

2. Melinda French Gates

Melinda French Gates has been busy since her divorce. Photo: @melindafrenchgates/Instagram

The latest to join this high-profile divorcee list, Melinda French Gates was hitched to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates from 1994 to 2021. The former computer scientist and general manager at Microsoft recently made headlines for deciding not to give the bulk of her US$11.4 billion fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates were married until 2021. Photo: @thisisbillgates/Instagram