Anyone who’s ever been through an ugly divorce knows it can be rather costly to end a marriage.
But if you’re about to drop your dog off for his weekend visitation with your ex, you can take comfort in knowing that things could have been much worse — just ask Jeff Bezos.
Back in January, Bezos announced his split from wife Mackenzie.
Shortly thereafter, it was revealed that Bezos was romantically involved with Lauren Sanchez, a media personality who formerly hosted So You Think You Can Dance.
At first, it was reported that Bezos had cheated on his wife with Sanchez, but reps for the Amazon founder and CEO say the two became involved only after he separated from Sanchez.
Whatever the case, the whole situation deteriorated into a messy scandal in which the National Enquirer threatened to publish Bezos’ nude photos in a bizarre extortion plot.
Considering all that, we suppose Jeff got out of his marriage with far less damage than he might have anticipated.
Jeff and Mackenzie finalized their divorce today, and while she’ll walk away with a cool $35.6 billion in Amazon stock, her ex-husband will get to keep the remaining 75 percent of his shares.
The settlement makes Mackenzie the fourth richest women in the world.
Bezos retains the top spot on the billionaires list with a net worth estimated at $149 billion.
(He was at a paltry $137 billion when he and Mackenzie announced their split.)
Mackenzie confirmed that the divorce was finalized on Thursday afternoon with a surprisingly detailed tweet:
“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,” she tweeted.
"Happy to be giving him all of my interests in the Washington Post and Blue Origin, and 75% of our Amazon stock plus voting control of my shares to support his continued contributions with the teams of these incredible companies."
Bezos echoed Mackenzie’s amicable sentiments in a tweet of his own:
“I’m 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,” he wrote.
The couple married in 1993, before he founded Amazon and long before he became the richest man in the world.
Mackenzie is often credited with helping to lay the groundwork for the world’s largest online retailer in the company’s early days.
We think it’s safe to say she’s been well compensated for her efforts.
