London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 23, 2025

MacKenzie Scott likely had a prenup with her second husband, legal experts say. Here's what could happen next with her divorce — and how it could affect the billions designated for charity.

MacKenzie Scott likely had a prenup with her second husband, legal experts say. Here's what could happen next with her divorce — and how it could affect the billions designated for charity.

MacKenzie Scott's divorce is unlikely to impact her multibillion-dollar charitable giving, experts say.

Scott filed for divorce from her second husband, Dan Jewett, on Monday. The couple has been married for less than two years and had embarked on a philanthropic mission together, but recently, mentions of Jewett had disappeared from Scott's posts and online profiles. On Wednesday, The New York Times broke the news that they're splitting up.

Scott was previously married to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and their divorce left her with a 3% stake in the e-commerce giant, a stake that has made her the world's 40th-richest person.

But legal experts told Insider that Scott's second divorce will likely be vastly different from the first time around and will almost certainly leave the majority of her $28 billion fortune untouched.


'Shocked' if there is no prenuptial agreement


When Scott's divorce from Bezos was finalized in 2019, she walked away with millions of Amazon shares worth, at that time, roughly $38 billion. Though she's been working to offload her immense wealth since then, she still entered the marriage to Jewett with assets that far outpaced most people on the planet, including her second husband.

To that end, it's almost certain that the couple signed a prenuptial agreement, according to Eleanor Alter, a partner at New York law firm Alter, Wolff, & Foley who has handled high-profile divorce cases.

"It's possible they didn't have a prenuptial agreement, but I'd be shocked," she said.

Jennifer Brandt, chair of the family law group at Pennsylvania law firm Cozen O'Connor, agreed: "In most cases when you have high net worth people, they do want to get, and are advised to get, a prenuptial agreement."

Brandt noted that prenups are especially common in cases where someone has been married before or comes into the marriage with significant wealth, which are both factors that apply to Scott.


Couple already agreed to a contract that divides their assets


Though Scott's divorce petition doesn't mention a prenup, it does say that the couple signed a separation agreement, an interim agreement that sets some rules for the period of separation before a couple is divorced. Beyond divvying up a couple's finances, it can include issues like child or spousal support, though neither request was included in the divorce petition.

"It could even dictate use of certain assets or use of properties," Brandt said. "If you have multiple properties, it may dictate where people live or what properties they may be using during an intervening period before the assets are distributed and maybe who pays for them."

Oftentimes, those types of agreements are included in a prenup, according to Alter.

"A lot of prenuptial agreements provide that if you get divorced, this is the separation agreement. So there's no difference, there's nothing to negotiate," she said. "The terms of the prenuptial agreement become the terms of the separation agreement. In a short marriage, that's likely."

While Scott's petition is publicly accessible, the separation agreement is sealed. Terry Price, a family law professor at the University of Washington, told GeekWire that details of that contract "will never see the light of day." Scott and Jewett have not commented publicly on their divorce plans.


The divorce will likely be finalized quickly


Washington, where they live, is a community-property state, meaning that the assets a couple acquires while they're married belong to both of them and therefore will be divided equitably. But if one person comes to the marriage with property of their own, they're not required to split that with their spouse in the event of a divorce, according to state law.

Which means that Scott's wealth — and her plans to donate at least half of it during her lifetime, which she's doing faster than any other living person, according to Puck — likely won't be significantly impacted by the divorce.

Alter pointed out that divorce may affect Scott's tax situation, as married people can give more money away without paying taxes, but given the scale of Scott's donations and the machinery that's likely behind it, it's unclear how her taxes will be affected, if at all.

Either way, the experts agree that Scott and Jewett will likely push for the divorce to become finalized as quickly and quietly as possible. Washington law says that the petition must be filed and served to the other spouse for at least 90 days before a judge will dissolve a marriage. Alter estimated that, given the likelihood of a prenup and the brevity of the marriage, Scott's divorce will take "a few months, at most" to complete.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×