MacKenzie Scott, the 22nd-richest person in the world and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has remarried. The news that MacKenzie married Dan Jewett was announced on March 6 when Dan wrote a letter on the site The Giving Pledge.
Little is known about Dan, but Forbes has noted that he's a science teacher at the private school that MacKenzie's four children attend. In fact, the exact date of their marriage isn't known, as Dan only mentioned the fact that he's married to MacKenzie in the letter he penned.
The Giving Pledge was founded by Bill and Melinda Gates and includes over 200 philanthropists who are willing to give the majority of their money away in their lifetimes. With his marriage, Dan Jewett has now signed on.
Dan Jewett begins his letter by noting that he never thought he would be part of a group of people like those associated with The Giving Pledge:
"It is strange to be writing a letter indicating I plan to give away the majority of my wealth during my lifetime, as I have never sought to gather the kind of wealth required to feel like saying such a thing would have particular meaning. I have been a teacher for the majority of my life, as well as a grateful student of the generosity of those around me."
Then he shares that his marriage to MacKenzie Scott is what has allowed him to join:
"This has meant doing my best to follow their example by passing on resources of all kinds — from time, to energy, to material possessions — when I have had them to give. And now, in a stroke of happy coincidence, I am married to one of the most generous and kind people I know — and joining her in a commitment to pass on an enormous financial wealth to serve others."
MacKenzie Scott was awarded $53 billion following her divorce from Jeff Bezos, and her total net worth is estimated to be at least $60 billion. She's recognized as one of the wealthiest people in the world, and currently ranks as No. 22.
In her own Giving Pledge letter from 2019, MacKenzie noted that people come into wealth in all kinds of ways:
"We each come by the gifts we have to offer by an infinite series of influences and lucky breaks we can never fully understand. In addition to whatever assets life has nurtured in me, I have a disproportionate amount of money to share. My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful. It will take time and effort and care. But I won’t wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty."
Jeff and MacKenzie announced that their marriage of 25 years was ending in January 2019. They released the following statement:
"After a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends. We've had such a great life together as a married couple, and we also see wonderful futures ahead, as parents, friends, partners in ventures and projects, and as individuals pursuing ventures and adventures."
While the two tried to maintain an appearance of having a civil divorce, the truth eventually came out. Jeff Bezos and former television anchor Lauren Sánchez were having an affair, and Jeff's team told People that both MacKenzie and Lauren's then-husband knew about the relationship "for months."
A source also told Vox that MacKenzie and Jeff separated before he began dating Lauren. The source said, "He and Mackenzie have been working on this for a long time, and they worked very hard to fix it. Then they became separated, and then Jeff started dating Lauren."
MacKenzie and Jeff met back in 1992, when they both worked at the same hedge fund. She's since written that she was there for every step of the way as Amazon was built: "I was there when he wrote the business plan, and I worked with him and many others […] in the converted garage, the basement warehouse closet, the barbecue-scented offices, the Christmas-rush distribution centers, and the door-desk filled conference rooms in the early years of Amazon’s history."
