The couple married in 1993, a year before Amazon was founded by Bezos. The pair’s financial agreement following the announcement of the split in January 2019 was always going to be a hot topic for media speculation, as Bezos is believed to be the world’s richest man with a net worth of around £130 billion.

Record-breaking settlement

While the couple have kept tight-lipped about their other financial arrangements, some crucial details have been revealed. MacKenzie Bezos will receive a quarter of her ex-husband’s shares in Amazon, which will make her one of the company’s four biggest shareholders and boost her net worth to around £30 billion. The couple married a year before Amazon was founded, and MacKenzie Bezos was even one of its first employees.

With these shares alone, the novelist and anti-bullying campaigner will become the world’s third richest woman. Ms Bezos will give up voting control of her shares to her husband, as well as her stake in The Washington Post and the Blue Origin rocket and space travel company.

Despite this landmark divorce settlement, Bezos will remain the world’s richest man. His fortune comes primarily from shares in Amazon, and he personally owns The Washington Post. Together, the couple have homes in Washington, Beverly Hills and Texas.

A reasonably amicable separation, despite tabloid speculation

After 25 years of marriage, MacKenzie and Jeff Bezos have four children together and the divorce is believed to be reasonably amicable.

On Twitter, in what is her only tweet since joining the social networking platform, Ms Bezos 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 the next phase as co-parents and friends.”

When the divorce was announced, the official statement had a distinctly positive, upbeat tone:

“We’ve had such a great life together as a married couple, and we also see wonderful futures ahead, as parents, friends, partners in ventures and projects, and as individuals pursuing ventures and adventures. Though the labels might be different, we remain a family, and we remain cherished friends.”

However, the US tabloids have done their best to whip up controversy around the divorce. Just hours after the divorce was announced, publications such as the National Enquirer published allegations that Bezos had been dating Lauren Sanchez, the estranged wife of WME talent agent Patrick Whitesell. Further claims emerged, including a bizarre allegation of blackmail involving the National Enquirer with relation to the Sanchez affair.

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