‘Godzilla of all divorces’

● One of the biggest wealth transfers in history is expected in coming days.

With the flick of a judge’s pen, a $38bn (about R535bn) stake in Amazon will pass to MacKenzie Bezos as part of her separation from company founder Jeff Bezos.

“This is the Godzilla of all divorces,” said Peter Walzer, president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. “Nothing comes close to it because of the amount of wealth that’s being divided.”

A regulatory disclosure detailing the shift in ownership is expected early in July, according to an April filing. It will provide a rare glimpse inside the world’s richest divorce, a result of US Securities and Exchange Commission rules that require insiders to disclose changes in their holdings.

Though divorce cases aren’t secret in Washington state where the Bezos couple live, little else is expected to be revealed. “Even in states where it isn’t confidential, parties can file for divorce but not attach their settlement agreement,” Walzer said. “There are ways around the public nature of divorce.”

Jeff Bezos, 55, remains the world’s richest person, with a 12% Amazon stake worth $112bn, according to the Bloomberg billionaires index. He will retain other assets, including the Washington Post and space-exploration company Blue Origin, MacKenzie Bezos, 49, said in an April tweet.

She has said she intends to give away much of her wealth. She signed the Giving Pledge — a commitment by the world’s wealthiest people to dedicate most of their assets to giving back — in May, promising to donate more than half her fortune to philanthropy.