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Comment by 1cvmask | Hacker News Reader

There are so many examples of massive fortunes that were given away completely. No mention of them at all. Andrew Carnegie gave away a larger fortune as a percentage of GDP for instance. Chuck Feeney, inspired by Andrew Carnegie and his essay Wealth, gave away his fortune anonymously while alive:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-54300268

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Not to discount but Mackenzie Scott is giving it away within a few years of getting it. Not wait till the end of their lives and just write it off. Still great to do, but not to discount the impressiveness of what she’s doing.

The dead comment below yours had a legitimate point but it’s highly unlikely she could have actually been as philanthropic while still married to Jeff due to sharing issues.

Mackenzie Scott didn’t earn her fortune, so it’s not really comprable to those who did. She is giving away a windfall.

She did help with Amazon starting, I don’t think she was a trophy wife who had no effect on Amazon.

yeah because all of the wealthy bootstrapped themselves and didn't start with a fortune or great privilege

Lots of people start with fortunes and great privilege. Why aren't they all worth $60B? Both you and I are in places of great privilege. Why aren't we billionaires?

That's totally irrelevant. The point is the relatively low number of bootstrapped billionaires. Bezos started with a $250K (equivalent to $450K today) "investment" from his parents yet some criticise Scott for not earning her own fortune.

Jeff Bezos had been running Amazon for a year before his parents invested $250k in it. He did not start with that.

Any rando can get a 250K investment from VCs today, so that is irrelevant.

Categorically false.

She was literally one of the first employees.

Who cares if she made it. The question is who gave it off. Let’s not get into discussions on who truly made their fortune vs. being in the right place time with the right idea and mindset.

But there's no calls for Scott Hall ;)

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