A close read of Mackenzie Scott's baffling post-divorce novel
Mackenzie Scott has released a serialized dystopian novel titled 'Last Days in Two Nations' on Substack. The move is notable for its departure from her previous literary work and her deliberate choice to publish outside of Amazon, the company founded by her ex-husband Jeff Bezos.
Why it matters
It highlights the intersection of personal privacy, high-profile philanthropy, and the public's ongoing fascination with the post-divorce lives of ultra-wealthy figures.
PA Images/Reuters; NURPHOTO/Reuters; iStock; Tyler Le/BI When Mackenzie Scott got divorced from Jeff Bezos in 2019, she became one of the richest people in the world overnight. Their divorce settlement was among the largest in history, granting her assets that included 4% of Amazon's stock — roughly $38 billion. She wasted little time before starting to give her fortune away, handing off large sums to organizations ranging from pandemic relief nonprofits to community colleges within a year of their split. Based on the coinciding of her left-leaning philanthropic efforts and her ex-husband's cozying up to the president, it would make sense if she weren't wild about what Bezos has been up to . But other than occasional blog posts about her charitable giving, Scott is famously tight-lipped. Mostly, she lets her actions speak for themselves.
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