MacKenzie Scott has gifted two single-family homes in Beverly Hills, Calif., jointly valued at $55 million, to the California Community Foundation (CCF), her second gift to the nonprofit during the past year.
While publicly announcing the latest gift from Scott, CCF Director of Marketing and Communications Paula Valle Castanon said CCF would not immediately disclose whether Scott previously lived in either home and would not provide descriptions of the Los Angeles County homes, their sizes and acreage.
CCF previously received gifts of real property and will hire a real estate agent to handle the sale of both homes while maintaining them prior to listing, Castanon said. Published reports from 2019 — when the now-remarried Scott was divorcing billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — cited their joint marital assets as including two separate mansions in Beverly Hills.
Scott, who vowed to give away 99% of her wealth when she joined other billionaires in signing The Giving Pledge in May 2019, will have donated about $12.55 billion to at least 1,258 organizations, if the homes fetch the anticipated $55 million.
Her largest gift so far – signaling her commitment to safe, habitable housing – was $436 million to Habitat for Humanity International.
Scott’s discretionary gift to CCF will allocate 90% of sale proceeds to the foundation’s affordable housing grantmaking. Housing costs top the list of critical issues affecting Los Angeles County residents and the $55 million will permanently endow grantmaking efforts to benefit Angelenos who need affordable housing, the CCF reported via a release.
The remaining 10% will be used by CCF to support its immigrant integration program that advances economic and housing opportunities for immigrants living in Los Angeles County.
Scott’s gift was preceded by a $20 million gift made to CCF in 2021 to establish its LA Arts Endowment Fund that supports diverse, small to mid-sized arts organizations that are integral to Los Angeles’ creative economy.
CCF President & CEO Antonia Hernandez said of the gift: “We applaud and are grateful to MacKenzie Scott’s extraordinary philanthropic investment in Los Angeles. Her singular commitment — here and across the country — to transformative philanthropy has already secured the long-term future of dozens of nonprofits. With the California Community Foundation, her generosity will support organizations struggling to solve some of the most intractable issues facing our community. We are grateful for her partnership.”
CCF had net assets of $1.4 billion according to data on its filed June 30, 2019, the most recent available. The organization received $242.9 million in donations and grants during its 2018 fiscal year, the Form 990 shows.
