Jeff Bezos settles divorce with Mackenzie, retains 75% of Amazon stock and voting control
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife Mackenzie announced the finalization of their divorce on Thursday, nearly three months after they announced they were getting separated and filing for it. The pair's announcement has officially put an end to their 25-year-long marriage.
The couple took to Twitter to announce they have "finished the process of dissolving" in two separate statements. MacKenzie, in her statement, said she was granting Jeff all of her interests in the Washington Post and Blue Origin, and 75 percent of the Amazon stock co-owned by the pair and voting control over the shares she's retaining.
MacKenzie's Twitter statement said: "Grateful to have finished the process of dissolving my marriage with Jeff with support from each other and everyone who reached out to us in kindness, and looking forward to next phase as co-parents and friends. Happy to be giving him all of my interests in the Washington Post and Blue Orgin, and 75% of our Amazon stock plus voting control of my shares to support his continued contributions with the teams of these incredible companies. Excited about my own plans. Grateful for the past as I look forward to what comes next."
While Jeff Bezos said: "I am grateful for all my family and friends for reaching out with encouragement and love. It means more than you know. MacKenzie most of all. I am grateful for her support and for her kindness in this process and am very much looking forward to our new relationship as friends and co-parents.”
“In all our work together, MacKenzie’s abilities have been on full display. She has been an extraordinary partner, ally, and mother. She is resourceful and brilliant and loving, and as our futures unroll, I know I’ll always be learning from her."
Before their announcement of filing for divorce procedures, the pair were on a trial separation period for a long time. The couple issued a similar joint statement in January about their divorce which appeared amicable, however, several social media users debated exactly how much of the $137 billion fortune MacKenzie is entitled to. The pair, who share four children together, vowed to remain a family and "cherished friends".
Shortly after the divorce announcement, a story in the National Enquirer revealed Jeff was engaged in an extramarital affair with former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez. The story claimed the publication had obtained “raunchy and erotic selfies” exchanged between the pair. The Amazon CEO then launched an investigation into who leaked personal messages shared between him and Sanchez.
Bezos later published a blog post on Medium, accusing the National Enquirer's publisher, AMI, of "extortion and blackmail.” He claimed that AMI asked him to stop the investigation and threatened to release intimate pictures it had of the pair. A Wall Street Journal subsequently released a report saying AMI paid Lauren's brother Michael Sanchez $200,000 to get details of the pair's affair, including intimate texts exchanged between the two.