great scott!

'World's most powerful woman' MacKenzie Scott gifts $8.5 million to Austin charity

MacKenzie Scott has gifted $8.5 million to Austin Habitat for Humanity.

Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images

In recent years, noted philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott has shown considerable generosity to the nonprofit sector — with millions going to groups in need in the Austin area.

Now, Scott — also well known as the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — has gifted a whopping $436 million to Habitat for Humanity International and 83 of its U.S. Habitat affiliate organizations. With that donation, Austin Habitat for Humanity has received the sizable amount of $8.5 million — the largest single donation ever for the organization.

"This gift is beyond impactful for Austin Habitat for Humanity; it's transformational. It truly changes what we can achieve and the lives we can impact. We are extraordinarily thankful for MacKenzie Scott's generosity and the sweeping impact of her philanthropy," says Mason Ayers, board treasurer of the Austin organization, in a March 22 release.

According to a release, Austin Habitat for Humanity will use the "game-changer" of a gift to acquire land and build affordable homes throughout the greater Austin metro area, in the counties of Bastrop, Blanco, Caldwell, Hays, and Travis.

Scott’s gift comes at a crucial time for the Austin area, as the metro's median home price has reached its highest level ever, and the city's median home price has skyrocketed to $565,000. Soaring prices have left many Central Texans unable to purchase homes, and even affordable rental options are becoming out of reach, the organization says.

"This generosity will change the lives of families in the Austin area who will now be able to afford their own home," says board chair Ross Sabolick.

In 2020, Scott donated more than $4 billion to U.S. charities, including Meals on Wheels Central Texas, YWCA Greater Austin, and Heart of Texas Goodwill Industries in Killeen. Last year, Forbes named her the World’s Most Powerful Woman.

“I have a disproportionate amount of money to share,” Scott wrote in 2019 when she promised to give away at least half her wealth to charitable causes. “I will keep at it until the safe is empty.”

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better luck next year

Austin drops out of top 50 'World's Best Cities' list for 2025

Photo by Tracy Vu on Unsplash

Austin needs to put in some major work to improve its ranking for the 2026 report.

In a surprising turn for the city, Austin is no longer considered one the top 50 best cities in the world, according to a prestigious new report by Resonance Consultancy.

The Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing advisors ranked Austin the 53rd best city worldwide for 2025 in its annual "World's Best Cities" list.

The report quantifies the relative qualities of livability, "lovability," and prosperity for the world's top 100 cities with metropolitan populations of 1 million or more. New to the 10th anniversary edition, Resonance partnered with global market researchers Ipsos to include perception-based data into the rankings, surveying over 22,000 people in 30 countries worldwide to determine "the most desirable places to visit, live or work."

Austin took a 10-place tumble after previously ranking as No. 43 for two consecutive years, starting in 2022.

Resonance refers to its previous "World's Best Cities" reports and its 2024 "America's Best Cities" list – which ranked Austin in the top 15 – when explaining the Texas Capital's successes. The report praised Austin's "progressive spirit," economic prosperity, and the award-winning University of Texas at Austin.

"Austin continues to position itself as a hub of innovation and talent," the report's author wrote. "Over the past decade, the Austin area has become a magnet for major corporations, with Tesla recently establishing headquarters here to join long-standing players like Whole Foods and Dell."

However, Resonance attribute's Austin's dip in the rankings due to rising office vacancy rates and high housing prices.

"The office vacancy rate is climbing as remote work continues to impact the demand for commercial spaces," the report said. "Moreover, housing remains among the least affordable in the U.S., despite home prices having dropped 18 percent from the pandemic highs seen in mid-2022, the most among the 50 largest U.S. metro areas according to Redfin."

Elsewhere in Texas, both Houston and Dallas made major rebounds on the World's Best Cities list for 2025 from the previous year's rankings. Houston had plummeted into No. 66 in 2023, but has now skyrocketed back into the top 50 to claim the No. 40 spot. Meanwhile, Dallas moved up from No. 73 in last year's report to its current rank as No. 55.

London held onto its crown as the No. 1 best city in the world for 2025, followed by New York (No. 2), Paris (No. 3), Tokyo (No. 4), and Singapore (No. 5).

austin reports city life