Billionaire MacKenzie Scott donates $436 million to Habitat for Humanity

Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $436 million to Habitat for Humanity, which plans to direct the funds toward boosting affordable housing and Black homeownership, the group said on Tuesday.

The contribution, the latest in a string of donations by Scott totaling nearly $9 billion since 2019, will be divided between Habitat for Humanity International and its affiliates.

It will be used to accelerate Habitat for Humanity’s efforts to promote homeownership in Black and minority communities, Natosha Reid Rice, Habitat’s chief global diversity, equity and inclusion officer, said in a press release.

“We look forward to bringing diverse groups of people together to focus on the ways we can address systemic racism and injustices in the housing sector that continue to limit access and harm people of color,” she said.

MacKenzie Scott donated $436 million for affordable housing, her biggest known donation since pledging to give away most of her wealth.

Her est. wealth is $48 billion — less than the $52 billion her ex-husband Jeff Bezos has made during the pandemic (about $11.5M every hour). pic.twitter.com/MUKoonBRo0

— AJ+ (@ajplus) March 22, 2022

Some of the funds would be used to diversify the organization’s volunteer base, she said.

The gift was made in February and left up to the recipient to announce. A representative for Scott could not be reached for comment.

Habitat for Humanity said it will administer $25 million toward improving the supply of affordable housing, lobbying for favorable legislation, and launching an initiative this summer to address systemic barriers to homeownership. The group said other funds will be distributed to 84 Habitat affiliates in dozens of states via grants to push its cause.

Unlike her prior donations, Scott, who became one of the world’s richest women upon her 2019 divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, did not post a Medium blog post about the gift. In 2019 she said on Medium that she would give away the vast majority of her fortune.

Last year she announced donations of $2.7 billion to nearly 300 organizations, following donations of $1.7 billion and $4 billion to various causes in 2020.

Scott, who is now married to Dan Jewett, a Seattle science teacher, received a 4% stake in Amazon as part of her divorce.

She was worth $49 billion as of Tuesday, according to Forbes.

(Reporting by Tyler Clifford; Editing by Leslie Adler)