Amazon’s Jeff Bezos settles for $35 billion divorce, barely a dent in his net worth

Amazon founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, has settled for a US$35 billion (S$47.4 billion) divorce with his wife of 25 years, MacKenzie. The divorce deal is the highest in history.

The previous record holder for the most expensive settlement was held by art dealer Alec Wildenstein and wife Jocelyn.

MacKenzie Bezos keeps a four percent stake in Amazon, while 75 percent of co-owned Amazon stock is given to Jeff. She also agreed to transfer all voting rights to her now former husband as well as all her interests in the Washington Post and Blue Origin, Jeff’s aerospace firm.

They have yet to announce how they plan to split their real estate property holdings. The couple is said to own properties in Medina, Washington; Van Horn, Texas; Washington, DC; Manhattan, New York; and two mansions in Beverly Hills, California.

The couple have four children and have known each other since before Jeff established Amazon in 1994. Mackenzie used to be employed as one of the company’s first staff members.

MacKenzie, an alumna and honor graduate of Princeton University, is a novelist and has published two books, The Testing of Luther Albright and Traps. She also founded Bystander Revolution, an anti-bullying organization.

In her first and only tweet, MacKenzie announced the settlement and said that she is “Grateful for the past as [she] look[s] forward to what comes next.”

Jeff tweeted that he is grateful for his wife MacKenzie, “an extraordinary partner, ally, and mother” and the he will “always be learning from her.”

The divorce was announced in January. Tabloids speculated that Jeff Bezos was having an extramarital affair with news TV personality, Lauren Sánchez. Bezos accused the tabloid of blackmail, a claim that the publisher denied.

Despite the hefty settlement, the 55-year-old Jeff Bezos is still considered the richest man in the world with a net worth of US$149 billion (S$201.8 billion) according to Forbes.

Amazon, the top online retailer in the US, has been accused of inhumane working conditions and unfair labour practices. / TISG