Amazon CEO's wife after divorce could be the richest woman on the planet

Jeff Bezos, world’s richest man and founder of Amazon, is getting a divorce from his wife Mackenzie Bezos.

Jeff and Mackenzie Bezos were married for 25 years.

Mackenzie Bezos could be worth more than $60 billion after the divorce.

Jeff Bezos is getting a divorce from Mackenzie Bezos after 25 years. He posted a note on Twitter. According to him, they would do it all over again.

Jeff Bezos’ wife, MacKenzie Bezos, is a novelist and recipient of the 2006 American Book Award. She met her husband while working for him at a New York City hedge fund. She also heads a non-profit anti-bullying organization that she began in 2014. Recently, the couple started another charitable foundation for the homeless and underprivileged childhood education.

Married in 1994 before Amazon was even founded, it is unknown whether he and his wife MacKenzie had a prenuptial agreement when they married in 1993. Bezos was already a hedge fund investor by this point in his life, so he may have had the foresight to create an agreement. However, prenuptial agreements were not a popular instrument in the early 1990s. They were popularized by celebrities in the 2000s, specifically Kanye West’s “Gold Digger.”

If they didn’t, MacKenzie Bezos could be entitled to up to 50% of Jeff Bezos’ assets. According to Forbes, he is worth $137 billion as of today. The Forbes list was published prior to Bezos’ estimated stock holdings took a massive upward turn over recent quarters. The price of each share has gone up by over 30% since this time last year.

The totality of his assets will be made somewhat public through the divorce proceedings. If no prenuptial agreement exists, and the couple are not on “good” terms, MacKenzie Bezos could be looking at over $60 billion in Amazon stock alone. Divorce courts historically favor women. The world’s richest female today is Alice Walton with a net worth of only $46 billion.

Women in relationships where the husband is the primary breadwinner are often entitled to monies beyond the man’s assets, including child support and alimony. Some studies suggest that most men do better financially after a divorce. Nevertheless, the novelist could find herself with a regular income that dwarfs the earnings of most American CEOs.

The question that Amazon stock holders will be tossing around in the coming months is whether MacKenzie will liquidate her holdings. As of October 2018, 488 million shares are outstanding in Amazon. Bezos reportedly owns somewhere around 80 million. MacKenzie Bezos would thus own 20-40 million shares in a typical scenario.