Published 14:18 IST, April 5th 2019
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is getting divorced, leaving his wife a stake worth over 35 billion dollars
Amazon said Thursday that founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has finalized his divorce with wife MacKenzie, who will end up with a stake in the online shopping giant worth more than $35 billion.
Advertisement
Amazon said Thursday that founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has finalized his divorce with wife MacKenzie, who will end up with a stake in online shopping giant worth more than $35 billion.
In a tweet, MacKenzie Bezos said she is giving Jeff Bezos all her interest in Washington Post, newspaper that he bought in 2013, and Blue Origin, exploration company he founded.
Advertisement
“I’m grateful for her support and for her kindness in this process,” Jeff Bezos said in a tweet Thursday. “And am very much looking forward to our new relationship as friends and co-parents.”
Bezoses, who have four children, first anunced y were divorcing in January, just before National Enquirer published a story that said Jeff Bezos was having an affair with a former TV host. He later accused tabloid’s publisher of threatening to publish explicit photos of him unless he stopped investigating how Enquirer obtained private messs between himself and his lover.
When divorce is complete, which is expected to happen in about 90 days, MacKenzie Bezos will have a 4% stake in Amazon. Jeff Bezos, one of world’s richest people, will have a 12% stake in company, valued at more than $108 billion on Thursday.
Advertisement
RE | Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos accuses Saudi government for accessing private information on his phone
He’ll be Amazon’s largest shareholder, and he’ll also keep voting control of MacKenzie Bezos’s shares, according to a filing with Securities and Exchange Commission.
Advertisement
divorce ends a 25-year marri that played a role in creating one of world’s most valuable companies.
Bezoses met in New York in early 1990s while working at a hedge fund. y married just six months after y began dating, Jeff Bezos has said.
Advertisement
t long after that, he quit his job to start an online bookstore and Bezoses took a cross-country ro trip to Seattle, which was chosen for its high number of techlogy workers. While his wife did driving, Jeff Bezos wrote a business plan. By 1995, Amazon was operating out of a gar, with MacKenzie Bezos helping out.
Amazon has grown way beyond those humble beginnings. It w produces movies, runs Whole Foods grocery chain and has become leer in voice-activated speakers. company has become so large that it plans to build a second hequarters in Arlington, Virginia.
Advertisement
MacKenzie Bezos, a velist, said in a tweet Thursday that she was “excited” about her future plans, but didn’t say what y were.
“Grateful for past as I look forward to what comes next,” she said in tweet.
14:18 IST, April 5th 2019