Ex-Wives of Tycoons Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos Donate over R571m to Women Rights Organisations
- Melinda Gates and MacKenzie Scott, once married to the richest men in the world, have joined forces to give to charity
- The two donated over R571 million to organisations pushing for gender equality
- Scott divorced Jeff Bezos in 2019, while Melinda and Bill Gates's divorce was finalised in August 2021
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The former wives of the world’s richest men teamed up to empower women through promoting gender equality.
Source: UGC
Melinda Gates, the ex-wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates and MacKenzie Scott, formerly married to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos donated over R571 million to four organisations dealing with women rights.
The duo announced the donation together, with Scott saying those fighting for gender equality are not alone.
"The awardees are strong teams working on the front lines and from within communities to help women build power in their lives and careers. And best of all, they’re not alone,” Scott, who divorced Bezos in 2019, said in a statement.
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Bill and Melinda
Both women divorced their billionaire husbands, and Melinda and Bill’s divorce was finalised on Monday, August 2, 2021.
The finalisation of the divorce comes three months after Bill and Melinda, who were married for 27 years, announce their plan to split up.
The court filing announcing their official separation stated that neither is asking for a name change but did not shed light on what would change.
The two previously pledged to continue working together via a joint statement that read in part:
"We will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple."
Bezos and Scott
The divorce between Bezos and Scott was finalised in 2019, and she soon after became the richest woman in the world.
Since then, Scott has made a name for herself by donating vast sums of money to charity.
In June 2020, she donated R35 billion before making a R55 billion donation in December.
According to Bloomberg, her net worth stands at over R660 billion.
In March 2021, Scott has was married to Dan Jewett, a science teacher at her children's school.
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Source: Briefly News
Maryn Blignaut (Human-Interest HOD) Maryn Blignaut is the Human Interest manager and feature writer. She holds a BA degree in Communication Science, which she obtained from the University of South Africa in 2016. She joined the Briefly - South African News team shortly after graduating and has over six years of experience in the journalism field. Maryn passed the AFP Digital Investigation Techniques course (Google News Initiative), as well as a set of trainings for journalists by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at: maryn.blignaut@briefly.co.za
Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.
