Ding, ding, ding! It’s round two in the battle of the philanthropists.
Last week I reported on round one, with Elon Musk’s failed swipe at MacKenzie Scott over her divorce, and revelations about the vast disparity in their levels of giving.
Since then, there’s been another development. Scott’s ex-husband, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, gave away $50 million each to retired U.S. Navy admiral William “Bill” McRaven, who led the mission to capture Osama bin Laden, and to Hollywood star Eva Longoria. The pair were named as this year’s winners of Bezos’ Courage and Civility Award, which is given to people — often celebrities — doing solutions-oriented work to distribute as they see fit (does this count as trust-based giving?). Longoria is likely to use the money for her foundation, which supports Latino entrepreneurs, while McRaven said he wants to focus on supporting veterans.