The story of MacKenzie Scott’s latest investment begins decades ago, when she was a crying Princeton sophomore facing a $1,000 shortfall that threatened to end her education. Her roommate, Jeannie Tarkenton, found her and, without hesitation, had her father loan Scott the money. “I would have given MacKenzie my left kidney,” Tarkenton recalled. “That’s just what you do for friends.”
That act of kindness has now come full circle. Scott, now a billionaire philanthropist with a net worth of approximately $34 billion, has invested in Funding U, the lending company Tarkenton founded to help low-income students in the same precarious position Scott once faced.
The investment, confirmed in a recent essay by Scott, offers a rare glimpse into her strategy of supporting “mission-aligned ventures.” Funding U provides last-gap, merit-based loans to students without co-signers, directly addressing the systemic barriers to higher education that Scott’s philanthropy often targets.
For Scott, who has donated over $19 billion since 2019, the decision was personal. She wrote that Tarkenton’s long-ago loan is among the many personal kindnesses she considers in her giving. As one expert noted, this move demonstrates Scott is “looking for innovative ways to create opportunity for those that don’t have it,” blending a personal debt of gratitude with her profound public mission.
By James Kisoo
