In the second week of 2019, Amazon tipped Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable company. With many thinking at the time that the world could never have been better for its founders, news broke of Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie’s divorce.
Why this is such a big deal is because the two have not only been business partners for a long time, but they’ve been married for 25 years and the end of the marriage may lead to the most expensive settlement against a marriage ever, while making Bezos the richest man in the world. Here is all the information on their life together and their divorce.
Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie’s relationship
The first time Jeff and MacKenzie who is a novelist met was in 1992 when they were both in their twenties, working at DE Shaw. Just months after they met, the two got engaged and in 1993 they married. In 1994, Jeff and MacKenzie moved from New York to Seattle, where they settled into a one-room apartment, Bezos having founded Amazon with MacKenzie’s help.
The union produced three boys and a girl whom they adopted years ago from China.
Although Jeff was determined to expand his business and start with new projects as he continued to invest in opportunities and MacKenzie decided to write books, they shared a common interest in philanthropy which allowed them to to spend billions of dollars. In 2018, they founded the Day One Fund, a reunited charity project.
Even after the billion-dollar divorce, the couple indicated that they would always remain friends and that they could continue their charitable projects together.
Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie’s Divorce
Three days before his 55th birthday, Jeff Bezos took to his Twitter account to post a statement which was jointly signed with Mackenzie to announce that after 25 years together, the two men have decided to divorce. According to the couple, they were lucky enough to reunite and if given the same opportunity, they would remarry even though they were told they would be separating after 25 years.
The world’s richest couple said they went through a long period of romantic exploration and parting ways before finally deciding that ending the union would be in their best interests.
Reason behind divorce
While no official reason was given for the since split, TMZ said it was following a relationship Jeff Bezos began in late 2018 with American TV host Lauren Sánchez. who is now described as the woman behind this most expensive divorce. Sources revealed that Bezos and Lauren, born in 1969, spent a lot of time together and attended social events.
Prior to her alleged relationship with Amazon’s CEO, Lauren Sanchez, was married to Patrick Whitesell. Nevertheless, the two men have also been separated since 2018 and are also preparing for a divorce. Interestingly, Jeff and Mackenzie have been friends with Lauren and Patrick for about ten years, and both families have a home in Seattle.
Besides being a TV host, Lauren is also an actress, entrepreneur, producer and a helicopter pilot who has her own helicopter. She has been married to Patrick since 2005, although she also has a child with former NFL star Tony Gonzalez.
The implication of divorce
In the early 1990s, when Jeff and Mackenzie were married, the idea of a prenup wasn’t popular. Even if that was the case, there’s very little chance the two would have signed a contract since Jeff wasn’t a very wealthy man at the time.
Without a prenup, Mackenzie Bezos could end up taking out up to half of all of Jeff Bezos’ assets, she could own 8% of Amazon’s stock since Jeff owned 16%. With an estimated net worth of $132 billion as of January 2019, Mackenzie could disappear with over $60 billion.
The implication of this is that even if Jeff’s divorce from Bezos and MacKenzie, Jeff could lose his spot as the world’s richest man to Bill Gates, who has $90 billion. net worth of $46 billion.