On Tuesday, billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott published her yearly announcement of philanthropic gifts. Her donations totaled $7.2 billion, the largest yearly amount since she began publicizing her giving in 2019. Scott’s latest announcement brings her total lifetime giving to $26 billion. That makes her one of the three most generous donors in the U.S., per Forbes. Two far richer men, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, are the only Americans who have donated more to philanthropic causes, doling out an estimated $65 billion and $48 billion in their lifetimes. Scott’s latest set of gifts means that by Forbes’ calculations, she’s now apparently given more in dollar terms than Michael Bloomberg and George Soros—though Soros has still given away the highest percentage of his wealth; Scott is second by that metric. (Forbes estimated Bloomberg had given away $21.1 billion as of January, and Soros’ Open Society Foundations lists total donations of $24.2 billion.)

“This dollar total will likely be reported in the news, but any dollar amount is a vanishingly tiny fraction of the personal expressions of care being shared into communities this year,” Scott wrote in an essay accompanying her gift announcement.

Scott’s donations went to approximately 200 publicized organizations, with a focus on higher education (including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, plus programs........

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