THE MACKENZIE EFFECT

A $36 billion fortune made MacKenzie Scott one of the richest women in the world. How shes giving it away makes her fascinating.

- ANDREW ZUCKER

Yolonda Marshall thought she had received a prank call. Money dangled by an anonymous donor felt like a possible scam. And the fact that the call came to Marshall's personal cell phone, not her work phone, made the CEO of Student Leadership Network, an organization helping underserved students reach college, further question the caller's authenticity. "I'm like, 'How weird is that?'" Marshall recalls. "But the next day I called back. I said to myself, 'What if it's real?'"

It turned out to be a multimillion-dollar decision. After weeks of due diligence and back-and-forth with the benefactress's representatives, one of the world's richest people made a $7 million gift to Student Leadership Network. And unlike many gifts from big-ticket donors, it was unrestricted, meaning Marshall and her team could use the money as they saw fit.

"When you're running a nonprofit, you're so busy doing the work of ensuring that you're making a difference in the lives of so many individuals who need it most, making sure they feel seen," Marshall says. "Receiving the MacKenzie Scott gift made my leadership team and me feel seen."

Most of the time, when well-to-do couples call it quits they must split assets like real estate, jewelry, and artwork. For MacKenzie Scott and Jeff Bezos, their 2019 divorce meant divvying up ownership of one of the world's largest companies.