MacKenzie Scott has become one of the world’s most influential philanthropists, giving billions to charities and communities through her organization, Yield Giving. Surprisingly, her approach to philanthropy was inspired by a book about writing.

 MacKenzie Scott has become one of the world’s most influential philanthropists, giving billions to charities and communities through her organization, Yield Giving. Surprisingly, her approach to philanthropy was inspired by a book about writing.

While in college, Scott reread Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life and returned to a passage she had previously highlighted. The message encouraged writers to use their best ideas rather than saving them for some future time. Scott connected that lesson to her own wealth and decided that money could make a greater difference if it was given away during her lifetime.

After her 2019 divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Scott received a significant stake in Amazon and later signed the Giving Pledge. She went on to donate more than $26 billion through thousands of grants supporting over 2,700 organizations and causes. In 2025 alone, shHer approach is also distinctive. Instead of tightly controlling how donations are spent, Scott often provides unrestricted funding, allowing organizations to decide how best to use the money. This trust-based model gives recipients greater freedom and flexibility.

Scott’s connection to writing runs deep. She studied English and creative writing at Princeton under Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison and later worked as Morrison’s research assistant. Her debut novel, The Testing of Luther Albright, was published in 2005.

For Scott, a lesson from literature became a powerful philosophy for giving.e reportedly gave around $7.2 billion.