The marriage of Amazon’s power couple, which spanned the company’s evolution from an online bookshop to a giant e-commerce platform, has come to an end. According to Bloomberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his ex-wife, MacKenzie Bezos, finalized their divorce on Friday. As a result, MacKenzie Bezos is expected to receive millions of Amazon shares valued at $38 billion.
The terms of the couple’s divorce settlement became official when a Washington judge signed court papers to formally terminate the marriage on Friday. MacKenzie Bezos will grant the Amazon CEO all of her interests in the Washington Post and Blue Origin, as well as voting control over her stake in the company, according to their divorce deal, which was disclosed in April.
Jeff Bezos would receive 75% of the Amazon stock the couple co-owned, while MacKenzie Bezos would keep the remaining 25%.
MacKenzie Bezos’ remaining 4% ownership is slightly under 20 million Amazon shares, valued at an estimated $38 billion. Bloomberg says that a regulatory filing announcing the change in ownership, as required by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, is anticipated this month.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index, MacKenzie Bezos is now the world’s third-richest woman. Bezos will be ranked behind Francoise Bettencourt Meyers and Alice Walton, both of whom have net worths of more than billion.
In April, MacKenzie Bezos announced that she had signed the Giving Pledge, which commits some of the world’s wealthiest people to donate at least half of their assets to charity during their lifetime or in their will.
Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos’ post-divorce net worth is projected to be $121 billion, making him the world’s wealthiest man. He has steadfastly declined to sign the Giving Pledge while praising his ex-wife for her charity efforts on Twitter.
The Bezos pair had been married for 25 years when they divorced. They’ve been together since before Amazon was born and have four children together. They first announced their separation in January.
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The Breakup:
On Jan. 9, Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos announced their divorce on Twitter, saying they had decided to divorce “after a long time of love exploration and trial separation.” They intend to stay friends, according to the message. They married 25 years ago, the same year Bezos established Amazon.
The National Enquirer tabloid had reached out to Bezos two days prior to ask for comment on a story it planned to write about Bezos and his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, according to The Wall Street Journal this week.
The Enquirer said that Bezos had been seeing Sanchez, the wife of WME talent agent Patrick Whitesell, just hours after the divorce announcement. It also revealed a series of letters from Bezos to Sanchez, including the following: “I adore you, alive lady. Soon, I’ll show you with my body, lips, and eyes.”
According to various press sources, Sanchez and Whitesell are no longer together.
According to the Journal and the Daily Beast, Lauren’s brother, Michael Sanchez, a longstanding source for the Enquirer, revealed those texts to the publication.
He hasn’t acknowledged being the Enquirer’s source. Jeff Bezos is the founder, CEO, chairman, and largest shareholder of Amazon. MacKenzie Bezos is a novelist who helped Amazon expand in the early years, but she hasn’t been as involved in the company since then and keeps a lower profile than her husband. They have four children together.
Lauren Sanchez is a former television reporter who created Black Ops Aviation, an aerial film production firm. She did not react to a request for comment when it was made.
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The Agreement Was Reached:
Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos announced a divorce settlement in early April through Twitter, in which MacKenzie will receive 25% of Jeff Bezos’ Amazon ownership Jeff Bezos. She’ll be valued at around billion and one of Amazon’s four largest stockholders.
MacKenzie Bezos decided to give up her ownership in the Blue Origin rocket firm and The Washington Post in exchange for voting power of her shares.
