BEZOS COUPLE FINALIZE BIGGEST DIVORCE SETTLEMENT IN HISTORY
NEW YORK— Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his ex-wife, MacKenzie, finalized the biggest divorce settlement in history on Thursday, leaving him with 75 percent of their stock in the tech giant and giving her nearly $36 billion in shares.
MacKenzie Bezos, 48, said she would give all of her stake in The Washington Post and the space exploration firm Blue Origin to her 55-year-old exhusband—the world’s richest man—as well as voting control of her remaining Amazon stock.
Third wealthiest woman
In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Amazon, which has a market capitalization of some $890 billion, said MacKenzie Bezos will control four percent of the company’s outstanding common stock.
At Amazon’s current share price that would be worth some $35.6 billion.
According to Forbes magazine, the divorce settlement makes MacKenzie Bezos the third wealthiest woman in the world after L’Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers and Walmart’s Alice Walton.
Jeff Bezos, who now owns 12 percent of Amazon, remains the world’s richest man and the largest shareholder in the company with an estimated fortune of $110 billion, Forbes said, ahead of Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates and Berkshire Hathaway chair Warren Buffett.
Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos announced their separation in January and posted Twitter messages on Thursday revealing the divorce settlement.
“Grateful to have finished the process of dissolving my marriage with Jeff with support from each other and everyone who reached out to us in kindness,” MacKenzie Bezos wrote.
Grateful for the past
“Excited about my own plans. Grateful for the past as I look forward to what comes next,” she said.
Jeff Bezos, in a Twitter message of his own, said his now ex-wife has been “an extraordinary partner, ally and mother.”
“She is resourceful and brilliant and loving, and as our futures unroll, I know I’ll always be learning from her,” he said.
“I’m grateful for her support and for her kindness in this process and am very much looking forward to our new relationship as friends and coparents,” Bezos added.