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Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott finalises divorce from second husband Dan Jewett
Couple married in 2021 after Ms Scott divorced her first husband, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos
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Your support makes all the difference.Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has reportedly finalised her divorce from her second husband, Dan Jewett.
She filed for divorce in September. Mr Jewett’s name was reportedly removed from her group of fellow ultra-wealthy individuals pledging to give away half their wealth before they die.
Ms Scott is the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
The couple’s divorce was finalised on 10 January, the Daily Beast reported.
Last year the New York Times reported that Ms Scott filed a petition for divorce in the King County Superior Court in Washington State, according to a copy of the filing
Mr Jewett promised to join in on Ms Scott's pledge when the couple were married, though his name was later taken off her pledge.
The Times reported that, in the past, nonprofits receiving grants from the couple had thanked both Ms Scott and Mr Jewett, but more recent recipients had only thanked the former.
Ms Scott, a published author, also removed Mr Jewett's name from her author bio on Amazon.
After her divorce from Mr Bezos and subsequent status as a billionaire, Ms Scott began rapidly donating portions of her vast wealth to charitable causes. In three years she has donated more than $12bn.
According to a Bloomberg analysis, Ms Scott's net worth was estimated around $62bn — which at one point dropped to $27.8bn due to a decline in the stock market — and she said in a 2019 letter on her Giving Pledge page to "keep at it until the safe is empty”.
The Times checked the Giving Pledge website on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, which archives old webpages, and noted that Ms Scott and Mr Jewett were featured together in a photo on the site as recently as a week ago. However, the site subsequently only displayed a photo of Ms Scott.
In his pledge that was previously featured on the site, Mr Jewett said he was “grateful for the exceptional privilege it will be to partner in giving away assets with the potential to do so much good when shared.”
Last year, Ms Scott donated two Beverly Hills mansions valued at a combined $55m to the California Community Foundation. Ms Scott's was the only name featured in a news release announcing the donation.
Ms Scott also reportedly gave another $15m to the Health Forward Foundation and a $20m grant to the Houston-based Episcopal Health Foundation on Tuesday. Neither of the announcements mentioned Mr Jewett.
Ms Scott and Mr Jewett were married in 2021. Mr Jewett was a teacher at the private Lakeside School in Seattle before his marriage to Ms Scott.
He finished out his term there, but left after saying he felt his presence on campus had become a distraction after reporters showed up to the school to report on his high-profile marriage.
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