How much has MacKenzie Scott given compared with Warren Buffett and Michael Bloomberg in the last five years?
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive summary
MacKenzie Scott has disclosed roughly $26.3 billion in gifts since 2019 (including a $7.17 billion round in 2025), a scale of giving that — by multiple news tallies — outstrips the lifetime reported donations of Michael Bloomberg and places her second only to Warren Buffett and Bill Gates on some lifetime lists (depending on the outlet) [1] [2] [3]. Precise five‑year comparisons are complicated by inconsistent reporting windows and differing definitions of “giving” across outlets, but the available reporting makes clear that Scott’s recent, concentrated five‑year spree is unusually large relative to Bloomberg’s lifetime totals and to Buffett’s more front‑loaded, earlier giving [1] [4] [5].
1. MacKenzie Scott’s giving: a concentrated, documented surge
MacKenzie Scott announced $7.17 billion in charitable gifts for 2025 and — combining past disclosures — has given roughly $26.3 billion since 2019 (reporting outlets describe the total variously as since 2019 or since 2020) [1] [2] [6]; those gifts numbered in the thousands of grants to hundreds of organizations and were notable for being “no‑strings” unrestricted distributions [1] [2].
2. What the press counts as “lifetime” giving and why that matters
Major outlets and compilations use different yardsticks: Forbes and other lists report “lifetime” giving totals that can include decades‑old pledges and foundation endowments, while Scott’s public tallies are year‑by‑year disclosures via blog posts and Yield Giving statements [3] [6]. That variance means a direct five‑year arithmetic comparison requires an agreed start date and consistent inclusion rules — neither of which the sources uniformly provide [3] [1].
3. Warren Buffett: a giant in lifetime totals but not comparable year‑for‑year from the sources
Forbes lists Warren Buffett among the top American donors with lifetime giving in the tens of billions (figures cited across outlets range — e.g., roughly $62–65 billion in some summaries), and his landmark 2006 pledge to the Gates Foundation (valued at around $36.1 billion at the time) dominates his lifetime number [7] [5] [3]. The sources do not break out Buffett’s giving specifically over the last five years in a way that allows a clean apples‑to‑apples comparison to Scott’s 2019–2025 surge, so it is not possible from these reports to state Buffett’s exact five‑year total [5] [3].
4. Michael Bloomberg: lifetime totals smaller and variably reported
Reporting places Michael Bloomberg’s lifetime donations in the low‑to‑mid tens of billions, with outlets citing figures such as about $14.4 billion on one count and roughly $21.1 billion on another; those discrepancies reflect different compilation methods and cutoff dates used by Forbes and other trackers [4] [3] [8]. Multiple reports emphasize that Scott’s concentrated giving since 2019 has already exceeded the numbers some outlets attribute to Bloomberg’s lifetime philanthropy [3] [1].
5. Bottom line: within the last five years Scott’s giving dwarfs what’s publicly attributed to Bloomberg and rivals Buffett’s larger lifetime scale — with caveats
Using the best public figures available, MacKenzie Scott’s roughly $26.3 billion of disclosed gifts since 2019 (or $26 billion+ since 2020, depending on outlet) represents an amount that surpasses the lifetime totals various outlets assign Michael Bloomberg and puts Scott among only a handful of Americans (Buffett, Gates) reported to have given more in raw dollars over a lifetime [1] [4] [3]. However, the sources do not provide a consistent, verified breakdown of Buffett’s or Bloomberg’s exact five‑year totals, and different publications use different definitions of “lifetime” and different cutoff dates — limitations that prevent a precisely quantified, officially audited five‑year side‑by‑side [3] [5].
6. Why this reporting matters and the implicit agendas to watch
Coverage emphasizing Scott’s scale often highlights style — quick, no‑strings checks to community groups — which frames her giving as transformative and unusual compared with traditional foundation models; outlets with lists of “most generous” donors lean on lifetime tallies that favor decades of giving and large endowed pledges, which elevates Buffett and Gates in different ways [1] [6] [3]. Readers should note that outlets differ in methodology and that some figures cited for Bloomberg and Buffett reflect long‑ago, one‑time transfers or foundation accounting rather than concentrated recent cash flows, an implicit framing choice that affects comparisons [5] [4].