World's Richest' Jeff Bezos Agrees to $35bn divorce

Image credit: Jörg Carstensen | Getty Images

On Thursday, Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos announced thier agreement  to divorce terms, with MacKenzie Bezos set to hold on to a large chunk of the Amazon stock.
MacKenzie Bezos, revealed in her tweet that she would be keeping 25% of the Amazon stock, which should give her a 4% stake in the company. Jeff Bezos will retain voting control over all her shares and will also maintain all his interests in the Washington Post and Blue Origin, a private space company.

Pending a court approval of their divorce decree, Amazon confirmed in a filing on Thursday that MacKenzie Bezos is expected to hold 4% of the companys outstanding common stock. Roughly, that amount would be worth $35 billion based on Amazons current market value.

If MacKenzie Bezos ever decides to sell her shares, the buyer would have to enter into an agreement with Jeff Bezos to grant him the rights to vote those shares, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
MacKenzie Bezos in her tweet, said she was "happy" to give him voting control as well as financial interests in the newspaper and space company in order to "support his continued contributions with the teams of these incredible companies."

In a a corresponding tweet, Jeff Bezos said that he was "grateful for her support and for her kindness in this process."

They had initially announced plans for separation in January, ending their 25-year marriage. The separation became a media fussed issue when the National Enquirer claimed to have evidence of Jeff Bezos  "whisking his mistress off to exotic destinations on his $65 million private jet." in the past.

Exclusively, Bezos later published a tell-all blog post accusing the tabloid of trying to extort him. He included the full text of emails his representatives got from executives at AMI, the publisher of the National Enquirer.

Jeff Bezos, 55, and MacKenzie Bezos, 48, got married in the early 90s while working at a New York-based hedge fund. Shortly after, they moved across the country to Seattle, where Bezos launched Amazon. And they have four children.

With the success of Amazon, Bezos turned into the worlds richest person with his current net worth at $150 billion according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.