Despite donating an extraordinary $7 billion during 2025, averaging nearly $20 million per day, MacKenzie Scott, the philanthropist and former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, did not appear on the prestigious Top 50 U.S. Donors list published annually by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
The writer and philanthropist distributed the funds through her organization Yield Giving, supporting more than 120 different organizations throughout the year. The total amount she donated actually exceeded the contributions of any individual donor included on the list. For comparison, Michael Bloomberg, who ranked first, donated $4.3 billion, significantly less than Scott’s total.
Why She Was Not Included
Scott’s absence from the ranking was not due to a lack of generosity but rather the methodology used to compile the list.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy counts only direct donations made by individuals to nonprofit organizations, family foundations, or donor-advised funds. Grants that are later distributed by those organizations to final beneficiaries are not included in the ranking.
Because MacKenzie Scott distributes most of her philanthropic contributions through Yield Giving, the grants technically fall outside the publication’s measurement criteria.
If her donations had been counted, they would have represented roughly 32% of the total donations recorded on the list, which amounted to $22.4 billion in 2025. Including Scott’s contributions would have pushed the overall total close to $30 billion.
Bezos Family Also Appears in the Story
Interestingly, Jeff Bezos himself was also absent from the list. However, his parents — Jacklyn and Miguel Bezos — were included thanks to a $500 million donation aimed at fighting malnutrition.
A spokesperson for the Chronicle of Philanthropy explained that Scott may have made contributions to funds that could qualify under their criteria, but she and her representatives declined to provide additional information.
Since Yield Giving is notoriously difficult to contact directly, many details about how the funds are distributed remain outside public rankings and reporting systems.
A Philanthropic Record That Keeps Growing
According to Forbes, MacKenzie Scott currently has a net worth of approximately $29 billion. Since 2020, she has donated an estimated $26 billion to charitable causes.
What makes her story even more remarkable is that her fortune has continued to grow despite these enormous contributions, largely due to the rising value of Amazon shares.
Whether or not her name appears on official rankings, MacKenzie Scott is likely to continue redefining modern philanthropy, setting new benchmarks for giving while quietly reshaping the landscape of charitable donations in the United States.
