MacKenzie Scott donates $42 million to Elizabeth City State University

MacKenzie Scott is once again putting her wealth to work in a way that’s reshaping the future of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

This time, the billionaire philanthropist has made a record-setting $42 million donation to Elizabeth City State University, a move school leaders say will have a lasting impact on generations of students.

The announcement came Friday (March 13) during the university’s Founders Day Convocation, where Chancellor S. Keith Hargrove Sr. shared the news as part of his keynote address. For a campus with roughly 2,500 students, the gift stands out not just for its size, but for its scale per student—making it one of the most significant investments of its kind among HBCUs.

“I want to express our deepest gratitude to MacKenzie Scott for this remarkable act of generosity and for her recognition of the critical role that HBCUs play in expanding opportunity and strengthening communities,” Hargrove said in a statement released by the university.

The $42 million gift nearly triples Scott’s previous $15 million donation to ECSU in 2020, reinforcing her pattern of returning to institutions with even deeper support.

Founded in 1891, Elizabeth City State University marked its 135th anniversary during the same convocation where the gift was announced. The historically Black university, part of the University of North Carolina System, has long served as a pipeline for students seeking access, mobility and opportunity—missions that Scott’s philanthropy consistently aligns with.

According to university officials, the funds will support ECSU’s strategic plan, ASCEND 2030. That includes expanding endowed scholarships, strengthening academic programming, and investing in campus infrastructure across academic, residential and athletic spaces.

“Gifts like this do more than provide resources; they accelerate momentum,” Hargrove said. “This gift allows institutions like Elizabeth City State University to move boldly toward the future while remaining grounded in the mission that has guided us for 135 years.”

Scott, who received a 4% stake in Amazon following her 2019 divorce from founder Jeff Bezos, has become one of the most transformative philanthropic forces in higher education. With a net worth estimated at $28.4 billion, she has committed to giving away at least half of her fortune through the Giving Pledge.

Her approach has been both deliberate and urgent.

“In addition to whatever assets life has nurtured in me, I have a disproportionate amount of money to share,” Scott wrote when she signed the pledge. “I won’t wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty.”

That urgency has translated into billions.

In 2025 alone, Scott gave away $7.2 billion, the largest annual total since she began publicly tracking her donations. Her lifetime giving now exceeds $26 billion, with more than $1.1 billion distributed last year to HBCUs, tribal colleges, community colleges and organizations focused on expanding access to higher education.

A defining feature of Scott’s giving is its flexibility. Unlike many large-scale donations, her gifts are typically unrestricted, allowing institutions like ECSU to decide how best to meet their needs without outside constraints.

For HBCUs—many of which have historically been underfunded—this kind of trust-based philanthropy can be transformative.

And at Elizabeth City State University, that transformation is already underway.