Elon Musk blasted Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife MacKenzie Scott for her charitable donations in an X post that he deleted a short time after it went online Wednesday evening.
“‘Super rich ex-wives who hate their former spouse’ should filed be listed among ‘Reasons that Western Civilization died,’” the Tesla boss wrote on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, which Musk acquired for $44 billion in late 2022.
Musk wrote the post in response to an X user who complained that Scott, who divorced the Amazon founder in 2019 after 25 years of marriage, was giving away money to organizations that “deal with issues of race and/or gender.”
“Her fund ought to be called The AWFL Fund. It’s the ultimate aspirational expression of the most awful group in the US,” the X user who goes by the name “i/o” wrote.
Musk deleted the post hours later. The Post has sought comment from the X owner, Scott and Bezos.
The root of Musk’s animus toward Scott appears to be her charitable giving to political action committees aligned with the Democratic Party.
In May 2022, Musk wrote on social media that Scott was giving money to “PACs posing as charities.”
“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 wrote.
According to her website, Scott has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to organizations devoted to causes such as “racial equity,” “LGBTQ+ equity,” “gender equity,” public health, climate change and “functional democracy.”
The recipients of her largess include the Obama Foundation, Movement for Black Lives, Jackie Robinson Foundation, Morehouse College, Howard University, Planned Parenthood and the George W. Bush Presidential Center.
Scott’s net worth was pegged by Bloomberg Billionaires Index at $36 billion as of Wednesday. The 53-year-old writer’s wealth is derived from her 1.9% ownership stake in her ex-husband’s e-commerce company.
According to SEC filings, Scott received a 4% stake in Amazon as part of her divorce from Bezos. At the time, the stake was worth $36 billion — making her one of the richest women in the world.
In late January, Bloomberg News reported that Scott sold 65.3 million shares of Amazon — or around 25% of her stake in the company.
At the time she sold her shares, they were worth $10.4 billion.
Scott, who pledged in 2019 to donate half her fortune to charity, has given millions of dollars to various causes.
Since divorcing Bezos, Scott has donated more than $16.5 billion to several charities.
In the last year alone, she has published a list of more than 360 organizations that have received a total of $2.15 billion.
Scott is a signatory to the Giving Pledge, a non-binding promise in which billionaires commit to donating the bulk of their wealth.
“In addition to whatever assets life has nurtured in me, I have a disproportionate amount of money to share,” Scott wrote in a letter on the Giving Pledge website.
“My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful. It will take time and effort and care. But I won’t wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty.”
Musk has also donated some of his wealth to philanthropy.
The Tesla mogul, who as of Wednesday was the third-richest person in the world with a net worth valued by Bloomberg Billionaires Index at $189 billion, gifted $5.7 billion worth of Tesla shares to a charity he co-founded with his brother, Kimbal Musk.
The Musk Foundation has donated tens of millions of dollars to various causes including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and XPrize, an organization that awards prize money to aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs.
Scott married teacher Dan Jewett in March 2021. They finalized their divorce in January 2023.
Last year, Bezos became engaged to Lauren Sanchez, his girlfriend of four years.