On the Gospel of Wealth

The phenomenally fabulous fortunes of MacKenzie Scott ’92 and Jeff Bezos ’86 rise from the same wellspring, a shared business venture in bookselling, but their respective biographies beyond that baseline speak volumes. Both being billionaires, there is a didactic distinction in the philanthropic divide between them. That divide is illuminating, eye-opening, and instructive in its illustration of character.

PAW writer David Montgomery '83 describes Ms. Scott’s philanthropy since 2019 as a “... six-year tidal wave of funding possibly without precedent.” According to Forbes, the total of her charitable giving stands at $19.25 billion, in stark contrast to the giving record of Mr. Bezos at $4.1 billion. Mr. Bezos’ generosity is indeed significant, but pales in comparison to the near five-fold comparative measure of Ms. Scott’s.

Where Ms. Scott is reported as “implicitly accepting Andrew Carnegie’s 1889 dictum from The Gospel of Wealth — ‘The man who dies rich thus dies disgraced,’” Mr. Bezos appears loath to part with his massively multiple billions of dollars, even though there is a line beyond which one’s comfort and ease is not increased by more money. One suspects the reluctance is fueled by ego, and in a comparative standing against others; a common male affliction.

Women more naturally exhibit empathy, seek and build community, and are prone to share. Men, in contrast are more predictably self-centered, thoughtless, and controlling. Cultural evidence is everywhere. Look around and consider what you see. The phenomenon to a degree might well inform the considerable donation divide of this former couple, and democracy being about how we forge a common life together, one questions why we elect men so often to its primary positions of power.