INTERNATIONAL NEWS - Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his soon-to-be-ex-wife, MacKenzie Bezos, have announced a divorce settlement that will see her gaining ownership, though not the voting power, for 25% of the couple’s Amazon stock.
The portion she will gain amounts to roughly 4% of Amazon or $36 billion (R510 billion).
The record divorce settlement – which also will award Jeff Bezos all of the former couple’s joint holdings in The Washington Post and a space-flight company, Blue Origin – is likely to remove uncertainty over the extent of his continued control over Amazon – a company he founded in 1994 and of which he remains CEO.
Forbes estimated Jeff Bezos’ worth earlier this year at $131 billion (R1.8 trillion) before the divorce settlement. The world’s second-richest person at the time was Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, a neighbour of the Bezoses, with about $96.5 billion (R1.36 trillion), according to Forbes.
The marriage lasted 25 years and during that time they have had four children.
