Billionaire MacKenzie Scott Is Releasing Third Novel For Free On Substack
Forbes Staff.
Mary Roeloffs is a Forbes breaking news reporter covering pop culture.
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Aug 08, 2026, 04:05pm EDT
Topline
Philanthropist and Amazon billionaire MacKenzie Scott said Saturday she will self-publish a new novel, her third, on Substack throughout the month of August, but has so far provided few details on what the book is about.
MacKenzie Scott on Jan. 6, 2018 in Hollywood, California.
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Key Facts
Scott, who was once the 22nd richest person in the world before giving away $26 billion over the last seven years, said on her blog she'll publish an 80,000-word novel called “Last Days in Two Nations (A History in Eighteen Minds)” serially throughout August.
Scott published the title page, table of contents, character list and epigraphs for the book Saturday but said little else, other than to encourage her followers to “read and subscribe.”
Scott's debut novel, "The Testing of Luther Albright," was published in 2005 and critically well-received, winning an American Book Award and earning a spot on the Los Angeles Times Best of the Year list.
She published another book, “Traps,” in 2013 and promoted it with a series of interviews but, since then, has communicated with the public only through rare literary posts to her blog and website.
FORBES VALUATION
Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has an estimated net worth of $33.8 billion as of Saturday. Scott was married to Bezos for 25 years and received a 4% stake in the online retailer as part of her 2019 divorce. Since then, she has given away upwards of $26 billion to more than 2,500 groups, including historically Black colleges and universities, environmental groups and economic equity nonprofits.
Key background
Scott studied creative writing under Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison at Princeton University. Morrison served as supervisor for Scott’s 168-page thesis project, "The Fathering Water," and the pair reportedly kept in touch after Scott graduated in 1992.
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