The 12 months of 2025 have been a headline-making year for billionaire philanthropist Mackenzie Scott. she Donated more than $7 billionbringing her total giving since 2020 to $26 billion and more than 2,700 gifts. This makes her one of the most generous philanthropists alongside billionaires Bill Gates and Melinda France Gates Warren Buffett.
scott’s ex-wife Amazon Owned by founder Jeff Bezos Current net worth About $40 billion, much of it from her 2019 divorce from Bezos. The majority of her 2025 donations go to causes such as DEI, disaster recovery and higher education. But one gift she gave last year sparked some controversy.
According to reports on December 9 blog post Written by Scott, whose charity Yield Giving donates to solidarity networkwhich says it “cultivates relationships between social movements and members to create regenerative systems rooted in love and justice.” What this actually means, according to reports, is that organizations funded by the network include Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), the American Palestinian Community Network, and the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM). tax declaration and Press release From Solidaire Network.
The Center for Progress Fund, which distributes grants to left-wing activist groups, reportedly received $5 million from Scott in 2025 and $10 million in 2021. benefit giving. But SJP and AMP, two organizations that receive funding from Solidaire Network, face investigation Suspected of coordinating with terrorist organization Hamas to launch anti-Israel protests in the United States
Since the attack by Hamas militants on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel’s violent and controversial response, pro-Palestinian protests have broken out around the world, and traditional left-wing interest groups have been divided. While Palestinian freedom has become a prominent cause for left-wing civil rights groups, more center-left voices have criticized at least some aspects of the protests as anti-Semitic and even linked to Hamas, arguably conflating the issue of Palestinian statehood with support for the militant group that governs the Gaza Strip.
The Oversight and Accountability Committee is “particularly concerned that organizations disseminating pro-Hamas propaganda and engaging in illegal activities at higher education institutions may receive funding or other support from domestic and foreign sources that support the objectives of Hamas or other foreign terrorist organizations,” according to a May 29, 2024 letter from the committee to AMP Executive Director Osama Abuirshaid.
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) in September also asked the FBI to investigate what he called the “viciously anti-Semitic” movement, after its leader Aisha Nizar called on supporters to disrupt the U.S. F-35 fighter jet supply chain.
“Nizar’s comments advocating for action against the makers of the F-35 and seeking to jeopardize the delivery of one of America’s most strategic assets constitute direct incitement of violence against U.S. national security interests,” Cotton said in a statement.
Solidaire Network, SJP, AMP and Yield Giving did not immediately respond. wealthRequest for comment.
To be sure, Solidaire Network also supports other progressive organizations focused on racial and gender equality and climate and economic justice causes. Scott also Among more than 280 donors Join the Solidaire Network in 2021.
“Funding social movements while transforming our relationship with wealth is the obvious way to go for philanthropy,” said Solidaire Network. “MacKenzie’s generous, no-strings-attached gift honors the bold ambition of our collective work.” Around the same time, Solidaire Network had just deployed millions of dollars in grants through its Black Liberation Collective Fund, Movement Conservation Fund, and Movement Infrastructure Fund.
Because Scott’s donations are unrestricted (meaning recipients can use the donations at their discretion), there is no concrete evidence that Scott’s donations in 2021 or 2025 went directly to SJP or AMP.
On January 30, 2024, Solidaire Network also announced the launch of the Solidarity and Strength Fund to support “a permanent ceasefire and the campaign against Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.” The SJP and AMP are largely associated with “Palestinian freedom” and an uncompromising stance against Israel.
“We need more charity partners to be present at these flashpoints, and we also need their long-term support to grow and sustain our work beyond moments of crisis,” Stacey Krueger Palestinian law said in a statement. “We are able to accomplish this work because of the multi-year funding we have received through committed partners like Solidaire Network.”
While some have criticized Scott’s donation to Solidaire Network, she is also widely regarded as one of the most profound philanthropists of the past few years. She has made a real difference for DEI-focused organizations as well as others focused on higher education, veterans, social justice, disaster relief, and climate. For example, Scott Donates $80 million to Howard University Last fall, the university said the gift came at the perfect time, as the federal shutdown delayed the school’s receipt of annual federal funding to support student success, academic programming, research and operations at the university and Howard University Hospital.
Scott also credits the inspiration for her donation to the generosity of her college roommates, who loaned her $1,000 so she wouldn’t have to drop out of school; and her dentist, who provided her with free dental services after seeing her using denture glue to hold broken teeth in college.
“Generosity and kindness stimulate the same pleasure centers in the brain as sex, food, and receiving gifts, and they also improve our health and long-term well-being,” Scott wrote in a December blog post. “The peace-promoting byproduct of an unexpected act of kindness toward a stranger of a different background or faith can spark beneficial ripple effects that last for years.”