Elon Musk recently criticized Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, declaring her philanthropy was destroying Western civilization. Scott has now responded to this criticism in her own way — by doubling her planned donations.
Earlier this month, Musk bashed Scott amid her ongoing philanthropy work. Since divorcing billionaire Bezos, Scott has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to various organizations.
Musk Called Out Scott
On March 6, Musk openly accused Scott of seemingly ruining the world because of her philanthropy. In a now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter), Musk called out Scott, though he didn’t refer to her by name.
“‘Super rich ex-wives who hate their former spouse’ should be listed among ‘Reasons that Western Civilization died,’” Musk wrote in a post.
Musk Has Criticized Scott Before
While Musk has deleted this latest post on X, this isn’t the first time he’s publicly slammed Scott. In 2022, the Tesla CEO also took to X to single out Scott and her ongoing philanthropic works.
According to Musk, the Democratic Party had started to sideline his own companies because Scott donated to “PACs posing as charities.”
Tesla and SpaceX
While talking to people on X back in 2022, Musk explained that many Democratic leaders had begun to give Tesla and SpaceX the cold shoulder about twelve months previously. He believes that this is because Scott started to donate to certain PACs.
Because the Democrats became cold to him, Musk stated he would vote for Republicans in the then-upcoming midterm elections.
Musk on Scott and Bezos
In 2022, Musk also gave everybody his opinion on the current state of Scott and her relationship with her ex-husband, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. According to Musk, things aren’t great between the divorced couple — which isn’t necessarily a surprise.
“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 posted on X.
Why Musk Called Out Scott Recently
Musk didn’t give any indication about why he chose to call out Scott recently, even after he deleted his tweet. However, Musk has been quite critical of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the last few months.
Some of Scott’s recent donations have been to organizations that deal with diversity, gender, and other practices associated with DEI.
Musk’s Interactions With X Users
Musk’s deleted post was in response to an X user who called out Scott and the type of organizations she was giving money to. According to this user, the idea that Scott would give away so much money to organizations that are related to DEI is “awful.”
Musk seemingly agreed with this user, as seen in his deleted response. While he may have recently been talking about Scott’s DEI donations, he’s clearly had an issue with her philanthropy for years now.
Scott’s Response
Scott has never publicly responded to anything that Musk has said about her. This time isn’t any different. However, in a way, she has responded to his criticisms — by donating even more.
Scott recently announced that she would be donating more than double what she originally was going to. Originally, she had pledged to give away $250 million. Now, she’s going to donate $641 million.
Scott’s Donations
This $640 million will go to 361 different charities and organizations. Scott is working with the organization Lever for Change to accurately give away these donations to various nonprofits.
Lever for Change and Scott created an open call for applications, allowing organizations to put in for a chance to receive a large donation. According to Lever for Change, Scott increased her donations “in light of the incredible work of these organizations, as judged by their peers and external panelists.”
More Nonprofits Are Receiving Donations
Therefore, Scott is allowing the pool of recipients to be expanded. This means that more nonprofits will be able to receive donations.
Lever for Change has claimed that 279 nonprofits will receive $2 million a piece. Meanwhile, 82 organizations will receive $1 million each.
Who Received Donations
Writing on her Yield Giving website, Scott has explained that the organizations she has chosen were selected from 6,000 applicants in total. Of these nonprofits selected, Scott has said they were “elevated by peer organizations and a round-2 evaluation panel.”
These chosen organizations “are vital agents of change,” according to Scott.
Chosen Organizations
As a result of this open call with Lever for Change, Scott is donating to many different organizations — including many that help minority groups and women.
The Institute of Women & Ethnic Studies, the ACLU of Alabama, and the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants are three organizations that have received donations from Scott.
