Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has filed for divorce from her second husband, science teacher Dan Jewett, in a mysterious and unexplained move.
Scott, who recently removed all mention of her husband from websites describing her charitable initiatives, filed for divorce in Washington state on Monday, according to the New York Times.
According to the petition, an ownership division “will be set forth in a separation agreement” that Scott and Jewett agree on. The contract is not public. Jewett did not contest the divorce, court filings say.
Court records show that Mr. Jewett did not contest the divorce. The petition says any division of property is set out in a separation agreement to which the couple agrees, which isn’t public.
Scott, who is worth an estimated $28 billion following her divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, removed husband Dan Jewett’s name and picture from her Giving Pledge profile sometime in the past week, according to archived versions of the site demonstrate.
In March 2021, Scott used the same Giving Pledge website to announce her marriage to Jewett, a Washington state high school chemistry teacher, by adding her name to her vow to donate the majority of her fortune to charity.
Jewett’s name was also recently removed from a Medium post Scott wrote about her fundraising efforts last year, noted the New York Times, which first reported the silent changes.
The attorney who represented Scott in her 2019 divorce from Bezos declined to answer questions from the Times and did not immediately respond to a query from DailyMail.com on Wednesday afternoon.
Mackenzie Scott removed husband Dan Jewett’s name and picture from her Giving Pledge profile sometime in the past week
The billionaire philanthropist has not offered an explanation for the move, and her divorce lawyer declined to answer questions
Though Scott is widely recognized as one of the world’s most generous philanthropists, she maintains a low public profile, only tweeting or writing to Medium a few times a year to highlight charitable causes.
Scott, 52, and Jewett, 47, were rarely seen together, and he quietly quit his job as a teacher at a private high school in Washington last year, saying he didn’t want to create a distraction there.
Scott and Jewett’s photo, which previously appeared on the Giving Pledge website and appears to show them hiking together, is the only publicly available image of the couple.
Also, some of Jewett’s only known public statements were in his letter, which was posted on the Giving Pledge website, which has now been removed.
“And now, by a happy accident, I am married to one of the most generous and kind people I know — and join her in the commitment to pass on tremendous financial wealth to serve others,” Jewett wrote in the now-deleted letter.
The Giving Pledge campaign was created in 2010 by Warren Buffett along with Bill and Melinda Gates to encourage the world’s super-rich to give away most of their wealth for philanthropic causes.
Scott and Jewett’s photo, which previously appeared on the Giving Pledge website and appears to show them hiking together, is the only publicly available image of the couple
After her divorce from Jeff Bezos in 2019 after 25 years of marriage, MacKenzie Scott became one of the richest women in the world. They are seen above together in 2017
Since their quiet marriage last year, Scott and Jewett have also been known to make relatively secret donations.
Donating as individuals rather than through a foundation means the couple’s donations have only come to light when the recipients disclosed them, or through their occasional blog posts.
Scott previously wrote that she doesn’t respond to press inquiries to avoid overshadowing the work of the organizations she donates to.
After her divorce from Bezos after 25 years of marriage, Scott became one of the richest women in the world with a 4 percent stake in Amazon.
As of 2020, she has given at least $12.8 billion to charity, according to a recent tally by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Bloomberg’s Real-Time Billionaires Index on Wednesday ranked her the 41st richest person in the world with an estimated fortune of $27.8 billion.
At times, her generous donation has drawn negative attention to Bezos, who is worth $137 billion, due to the relative scarcity of his charitable giving.
However, Bezos has ramped up his giving in recent years, pledging to donate $10 billion through his Bezos Earth Fund, an initiative to fight climate change that has raised $1.54 billion so far, according to its website.
Bezos, 58, and Lauren Sánchez, 52, remain in the loop and were last spotted together at the premiere party of Amazon Prime Video series The Rings Of Power (above).
Sanchez’s ex-husband Patrick Whitesell also found love last year when he married Australian actress Pia Miller (seen with him above).
Scott’s divorce from Bezos unfolded as the Amazon founder struck up a new romance with former TV news anchor Lauren Sánchez.
Bezos, 58, and Sánchez, 52, remain in the loop and were last spotted together at the premiere party of Amazon Prime Video series The Rings Of Power.
Sánchez, whose own small fortune is estimated at $30 million, also delved into the world of philanthropy, announcing a $1 million gift to a group that cares for migrant children in July.
She is also divorced from multi-millionaire Patrick Whitesell, chairman of media agency Endeavour, which owns the UFC and Miss Universe.
Sanchez’s ex-husband Whitesell also found love last year when he married Australian actress Pia Miller.
#Jeff #Bezos #exwife #MacKenzie #Scott #files #divorce #chemistry #teacher #year #marriage
