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MacKenzie Scott marries Seattle teacher after Bezos divorce

The billionaire, philanthropist and author has married a Seattle science teacher.
Credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
FILE - In this March 4, 2018 file photo, then-MacKenzie Bezos arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, Calif. A donation from author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott to Virginia State University has become the largest single donor gift in the historically Black college’s history. The $30 million donation by Scott was announced Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, in a post that detailed the nearly $4.2 billion in gifts given to nonprofit organizations by the philanthropist in 2020. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

SEATTLE — MacKenzie Scott, philanthropist, author and former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has married a Seattle science teacher who expressed gratitude “for the exceptional privilege it will be to partner in giving away assets with the potential to do so much good when shared."

Dan Jewett, who made the announcement in a letter to the website of the nonprofit organization the Giving Pledge on Saturday, said he never imagined he would be in a position to talk about giving away significant wealth during his lifetime in order to make a difference in other people's lives.

Jewett has been a teacher for decades and most recently taught chemistry at the private Lakeside School, where Scott's children attended.

“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," Jewett wrote.

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After donating $1.68 billion to 116 nonprofits, universities, community development groups and legal organizations last July, Scott asked a team of advisers to help her “accelerate” her 2020 giving with immediate help to those financially gutted by the pandemic.

Scott went on to donate a total of $5.7 billion in 2020 by asking community leaders to help identify 512 organizations for seven- and eight-figure gifts, including food banks, human-service organizations, and racial-justice charities.

She was listed as No. 2 among the 50 Americans who gave the most to charity last year, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual rankings.

Bezos topped the list by donating $10 billion to launch the Bezos Earth Fund.

Credit: AP
FILE- In this Sept. 13, 2018, file photo Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, speaks at The Economic Club of Washington's Milestone Celebration in Washington.

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