Movies & TV / News
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Divorcing Wife After 25 Years, Could Lose Billions Of Dollars
TMZ reports that Amazon CEO, President and founder Jeff Bezos has announced that he is divorcing his wife MacKenzie after 25 years and $137 billion dollars could be up for grabs in the proceedings. Bezos wrote on Twitter:
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) January 9, 2019
Bezos claims the divorce is amicable. The two met in New York when he was working as a vice president of a hedge fund. They were then married in 1993, six months after meeting. They quit their jobs on Wall Street and moved to Seattle where Bezos founded Amazon, then just an online bookstore he ran in his garage. Both graduated from Princeton, although they didn’t meet there as she’s six years younger than he is. MacKenzie works as a novelist and she studied under Toni Morrison. She won an American Book Award in 2006 for her novel The Testing of Luther Albright. She’s the executive director of the anti-bullying organization Bystander Revolution.
If the two have a prenuptial agreement, that’s where the billions of dollars comes in. Washington is a community property state, which means that any assets they pick up during the marriage are split 50/50 unless a prenuptial agreement is in place. There are signs that the two did not sign one, as Bezos became a millionaire in 1997. His company Amazon is worth nearly $810 Billion. However, Bezos’ net worth dropped from $160 billion to $137 billion last year. The two also own 400,000 acres of property, making them two of the biggest landowners in the country.
Another question is whether the two will continue working on charitable projects together, as just last year they started a fund to help homeless families and create preschools. Bezos said that they “see wonderful futures ahead, as parents, friends, partners in ventures and projects, and as individuals pursuing ventures and adventures.”
They also have four children together, ages 13-18.
