- MacKenzie Scott has given away billions to charity since her split from Jeff Bezos in 2019.
- But Elon Musk isn’t a fan of Scott’s philanthropy.
- Musk claimed that women like Scott are why Western civilization is doomed.
Elon Musk isn’t a fan of MacKenzie Scott’s charitable giving.
“‘Super rich ex-wives who hate their former spouse’ should be listed among ‘Reasons that Western Civilization died,'” Musk wrote in an X post referencing Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife.
Musk was responding to another user who’d claimed that Scott had been giving money to organizations that “deal with issues of race and/or gender.”
“Super rich ex-wives who hate their former spouse” should filed be listed among “Reasons that Western Civilization died”
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 6, 2024
While it’s unclear why Musk singled out Scott, there might be a reason why he’s no fan of the causes she’s supported. Musk has been an avowed and extremely vocal critic of efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
“DEI is just another word for racism. Shame on anyone who uses it,” Musk wrote on X in January.
This isn’t the first time Musk has slammed Scott for her philanthropy.
In May 2022, Musk said he planned to vote Republican because he thought the Democratic Party had given his companies, Tesla and Space X, “a very cold shoulder.” Musk said he thought his companies were being sidelined partly because Scott had donated to “PACs posing as charities.”
“It’s safe to say that MacKenzie [ahem] Scott is not exactly a big fan of her ex-husband. Unfortunately, a lot of others are getting caught in the crossfire,” Musk wrote in an X post at the time.
Scott was married to Bezos for 25 years before they finalized their divorce in 2019. Scott received $38 billion worth of Amazon shares in the settlement terms.
Since then, Scott has made waves with her philanthropy.
In 2022, Scott said in a Medium post that she’d donated nearly $2 billion to “343 organizations supporting the voices and opportunities of people from underserved communities.” Scott’s donations that year included $275 million to Planned Parenthood.
Unlike most philanthropists, who dispense funding for causes that impose specific reporting requirements, Scott has adopted a no-strings-attached approach toward her giving. This has won Scott plaudits from organizations who relish the autonomy she has given them.
“The most cherished gifts are definitely those that are unrestricted because a complex university has a wide variety of needs,” Ruth Simmons, the president of Prairie View A&M University, told the Associated Press.
Simmons’ university in 2020 received a $50 million donation from Scott, one of the largest donations it had ever gotten.
Scott’s ex, Bezos, has a different approach to giving. He told CNN in November 2022 that while he plans to give away his wealth, he’s found engaging in philanthropy as difficult as building Amazon.
“The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way,” Bezos told CNN.
“There are a bunch of ways that I think you could do ineffective things, too. So you have to think about it carefully, and you have to have brilliant people on the team,” Bezos said.
To be sure, Musk does engage in philanthropy as well. In 2021, Musk donated $5.7 billion in Tesla shares to the Musk Foundation, a charity he started with his brother, Kimbal, in 2002.
The foundation has donated to various causes, including renewable energy, space exploration, and artificial intelligence, per its website. The group donated $160 million to nonprofits in 2021, including $55 million to the St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, per Bloomberg.
Representatives for Musk and Scott did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.
