The world’s most expensive divorce has been finalized.
Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man with assets worth $150 billion U.S., has finalized his divorce from ex-wife MacKenzie Bezos in a deal that will see Mr. Bezos retain 75% of the couples shares in Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), along with complete control of space travel company Blue Origin and influential newspaper The Washington Post. In return, Mackenzie Bezos gets 20 million shares, or 4%, of Amazon stock worth $36 billion.
In a tweet, MacKenzie Bezos said that while she will retain one-quarter of the couple's stake in Amazon, a company the couple founded out of their garage in 1994, she will hand over all of the voting shares to Jeff Bezos in order "to support his continued contributions with the teams of these incredible companies."
The couple split earlier this year after more than 20 years of marriage. According to regulatory filings, the Bezoses own 78,814,170 shares in Amazon, about 16% of the company, and worth just under $143 billion based on Thursday's closing price for the shares.
MacKenzie Bezos said she will relinquish complete control of her interests in space travel company Blue Origin, and her ownership stake in The Washington Post to her ex-husband. At the end of her Tweet, MacKenzie Bezos said she is "grateful for the past as I look forward to what comes next."
