The World’s richest man and his wife have announced their imminent divorce, a move which many have said may lead to the costliest divorce settlement in history.
Jeff Bezos, currently worth $137 billion, and his wife MacKenzie are divorcing after 25 years of marriage. The duo, in a jointly signed statement, made the announcement on Wednesday on Twitter.
The Amazon CEO and Washington Post owner posted the statement on his Twitter acccount, @JeffBezos.
The post reads,
“We want to make people aware of a development in our lives. As our family and close friends know, after a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends.
“After a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends.
“We feel incredibly lucky to have found each other and deeply grateful for every one of the years we have been married to each other,” the statement continued.
“If we had known we would separate after 25 years, we would do it all again.”
Bezos, 54, and MacKenzie, 48, met and got married while working at D.E. Shaw, a New York-based hedge fund, in the early 90s. Shortly after, they packed up and moved across the country to Seattle, where Bezos launched Amazon.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) January 9, 2019
MacKenzie is the author of multiple novels.
Bezos and MacKenzie are parents to four children, including three sons and one daughter who was adopted from China.
The split could lead the costliest divorce is history, even if the couple doesn’t divide the money equally. There are no reports indicating the couple has a prenuptial agreement, meaning the wealth accumulated during their marriage would have to be split evenly.
Bezos also became a millionaire only in 1997 – four years after they got married. MacKenzie reportedly was one of the first Amazon’s employees.
The current most expensive divorce belongs to billionaire art dealer Alec Wildenstein and New York socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein, dubbed “Catwoman.” She won roughly $2.5 billion in the divorce settlement, shattering all the records.
