$38 Billion lost on divorce, yet Jeff Bezos remain world richest
Jeff Bezos the owner or Amazon has finalized the splitting of his marriage with wife Mackenzie as the part of the divorce settlement has begun to kick in.
Now, as Bloomberg reports, Mackenzie will start receiving 20 million Amazon shares that forms part of the divorce settlement. Worth almost $38 billion, which makes up 4% of the entire company's shares. This is said would elevate here to the 22nd richest person on Forbes list while Jeff would still remain at the top.
Mackenzie Bezos decided to give her ex-husband 75% of her Amazon shares and voting control over what she retains, despite having a likely legal right to much more of his empire, as Ephrat Livni reports in a Quartz membership profile. He maintains his complete ownership of the Washington Post and the space exploration startup Blue Origin.
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She will have to work hard if she is to meet the goals she laid out when she signed the Giving Pledge in May, where she promised to donate her wealth to good causes “until the safe is empty.” Mackenzie Bezos is nearly 50 years old: Even if she lives to 100, she may find it difficult to land upon enough avenues to direct her wealth. The best-intentioned billionaire philanthropists struggle to give away their vast wealth faster than they accrue more. Bill and Melinda Gates, for instance, have given away more than $45 billion through their Gates Foundation, but accrued almost as much themselves over the same period.
One solution might involve following in the footsteps of Warren Buffett. Rather than setting up his own foundation, a costly and time-consuming enterprise, he has instead chosen to divert huge sums of money to the Gates Foundation. But Mackenzie Bezos’ comments in her letter announcing her intention to give, where she promised to be “thoughtful” and to take “time and effort and care,” suggests a desire to no longer remain on the sidelines.
Jeff Bezos, whose net worth is approximately three times his ex-wife’s, has not signed the Giving Pledge.
