Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has filed for divorce from her second husband, Dan Jewett.
The move came after 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 New York Times reported that Ms Scott filed a petition for divorce in the King County Superior Court in Washington State on Monday, 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 has now reportedly been taken off her pledge.
The Times reports that, in the past, nonprofits receiving grants from the couple have thanked both Ms Scott and Mr Jewett, but more recent recipients have 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 — closer now to $27.8bn due to the recent 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 now only displays a photo os 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 month, 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.
The Independent has reached out for comment.
