World’s richest divorce – the story comes together. ‘MacKenzie Bezos’ gives charity to the richest person in the world ‘Jeff Bezos’
HEAD SHOT
- The Bezoses announced their divorce settlement via twitter with Jeff Bezos keeping majority of his stake and thus, control of Amazon
- The world’s richest couple decided to part after reports came out in January of Jeff Bezos’ extra-marital affair with a TV Host
- The private life of billionaire Bezos has been under scrutiny on tabloid front pages for the past three months
- The news of imminent parting of MacKenzie and Jeff had left Amazon investors in disarray about the fortunes of the company’s main man
Who is Richer: Jeff Bezos by shares and MacKenzie Bezos by heart!
— MacKenzie Bezos (@mackenziebezos) April 4, 2019
The divorce has been a closely watched matter of corporate governance for one of the world’s richest companies, with a market value of $890 billion.
MacKenzie, who had been a pillar in Amazon’s inspiring journey early on, had been married to Jeff Bezos for 26 years, before Jeff Bezos’ extra-marital affair with TV host Lauren Sanchez went public, after a scoop by the National Enquirer.
Jeff Bezos became the richer person and MacKenzie Bezos the bigger person!
Investor emotions have ruled the proceedings of the divorce
With widespread reports in the media about the imminent breakup of the Amazons’ patriarch and first lady had left investors concerned. Amazon’s stock had a cloud of uncertainty hanging over it as investors dreaded the situation where Bezos might have to give up his control in the company.
Shortly after the couple made their decision to go ahead with the divorce public in January, Peter Walzer, President of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers had stated that dividing assets can prove complex when the bulk of a couple’s wealth is tied up in a single company.
Bezos (55) is central to Amazon’s success and investor trust. The fresh news about Jeff Bezos control remaining intact in Amazon came as relief for Amazon investors, as per Reuters correspondent Jeffrey Dastin.
A major investor whose firm hold millions of dollars in Amazon stocks, keeping anonymous told Reuters that because of a firm policy, the resolution has cleared some uncertainty around the Amazon stock which was down 0.2 percent at $1,817.41 after the tweets from MacKenzie and Jeff.
He said that the issue is off the table, with less turbulence than expected.
DKODING | Newsline | Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Bezos
Mackenzie Bezos took the higher road
MacKenzie let Jeff keep 75 percent of the ex-couple’s $143 billion stake and hold the rein to the company’s fortunes in future
Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie met while working for hedge fund D.E. Shaw in New York and hitched a year before Amazon was founded in Seattle in 1993.
MacKenzie Bezos was a big influence in the initial stages of growth, working as an accountant and negotiating major contracts. Off late, she hasn’t held any prominent role in Amazon.
Jeff Bezos’s divorce was on tabloid frontpages for blame and alleged blackmail, but that has not affected MacKenzie who looks to have come out strong.
MacKenzie now owns roughly $36 billion in 4 percent of Amazon stock value when she was entitled to fifty percent of Jeff Bezos’ worth as per the laws of Seattle.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) April 4, 2019
The world’s richest man’s scandal
The well-guarded 26-year marriage of the world’s richest man went downhill after an American tabloid published alleged photos and intimate texts between Jeff Bezos and the woman who replaced MacKenzie – anchor Lauren Sanchez.
POTUS On Jeff Bezos divorce: “I wish him luck, it’s going to be a beauty” pic.twitter.com/6iJJsDfQDk
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) January 10, 2019
The National Enquirer’s parent company American Media and its CEO David Pecker are reported to have close links to President Trump. The US President has been critical of Bezos, Amazon and his newspaper, the Washington Post.
Bezos also directed an investigation into how the tabloid gained access to private text messages he sent Sanchez.
The scandal quickly got a political tilt when Jeff Bezos in February commented that the tabloid was trying to blackmail him unless he public said that the reporting on him was not politically motivated.
Bezos outed Enquirer emails detailing the alleged threat with graphic descriptions of the images in a blog post. The National Enquirer’s response said it was engaged in good faith negotiations to resolve all matters with Bezos.
So sorry to hear the news about Jeff Bozo being taken down by a competitor whose reporting, I understand, is far more accurate than the reporting in his lobbyist newspaper, the Amazon Washington Post. Hopefully the paper will soon be placed in better & more responsible hands!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2019
A well-thought out announcement from Bezo
The twitter announcement of the biggest divorce seemed to be a well-curated event – attempting to keep Amazon stock value in check.
It was MacKenzie Bezos who first announced the divorce settlement in her first ever tweet from an account less than a month old. Jeff Bezos who only follows one person on Twitter – MacKenzie immediately retweet it to his 882,000 followers.
With the settlement, Jeff Bezos has ensured that Amazon does not witness a boardroom battle where family duels make key decision making suffer. As per Amazon regulatory filing, the divorce is expected to be settled in roughly 90 days.
What’s still not out in the open
For all we know, MacKenzie could be getting a lot more out of the settlement
Although Twitter announcement calmed investor nerves, what’s still
left to be decided upon in Bezos’ fortune are holdings in companies like Airbnb, Uber, Workday and Business Insider.
It is also unclear how the real estate holdings of the couple which includes mansions in Bellevue, Washington, and Beverly Hills, California; a Texas ranch; and condos in New York worth tens of millions of dollars will be divided.
Jeff Bezos’ net worth is expected to be around $107 billion at least, based on his Amazon holdings alone.
The dissolution saves the world’s richest man from ruination due to an extramarital affair after 26 years of marriage and no second guesses for who has got the ‘hottest deal’.
PARTING SHOT
- MacKenzie seems to have forgiven Jeff for cheating after 26 years of marriage with a cordial divorce settlement
- The settlement has calmed investor nerves as Jeff Bezos is central to Amazon’s biggest decisions and investor trust
- Apart from the distribution of Amazon stock value held by Jeff Bezos, the couple’s physical assets and stakes in multiple unicorns is still not out in the open
- As per Seattle laws, MacKenzie was entitled to at least half of Jeff’s fortune but seems to have let go off the Amazon founder for cheap
Other notable costly divorces
- Rupert Murdoch: The media tycoon was ordered to pay his second wife Anna Torv $1.7bn when their marriage ended in 1998
- Mel Gibson: The actor split his net worth of some $850m with his wife of nearly 30 years when they separated in 2009
- Madonna: The US singer paid her ex-husband, British film director Guy Ritchie, $92m to settle their divorce after eight years of marriage in 2008
- Silvio Berlusconi: The former Italian prime minister agreed to pay his estranged wife Veronica Lario €36m (£30m) a year when they divorced in 2012
Source: BBC
Jeff Bezos text messages sold for $2 million to American tabloid