California residents might have heard that Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos are making progress when it comes to finalizing their divorce and have agreed on a settlement that still needs court approval. While divorce can sometimes take a toll on one’s finances, both people involved in this split will still be billionaires after the divorce is finalized.
As the chief executive and founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos will be worth more than $110 billion if his divorce settlement proceeds as planned. He will still be the wealthiest person in the world while Bill Gates is in second place with a net worth of around $99.5 billion.
Jeff Bezos is set to keep most of his interests in Amazon with 75 percent of his and MacKenzie’s Amazon stock. In 2013, Jeff purchased the Washington Post for $250 million. He will keep the paper and his space exploration company called Blue Origin. It is unclear how the couple intends to divide their real estate holdings.
MacKenzie Bezos will receive around 19.7 million Amazon shares, which translates to about 4% of Amazon. Her shares have a value of around $35.7 billion. This will make her the third richest woman in the world. Walmart heiress Alice Walton holds the second-place spot with a $45 billion net worth while Francoise Bettencourt Meyers ranks in first as the L’Oréal heiress has around $53.9 billion.
The Bezos divorce is the most expensive one ever; the second biggest was for $3.8 billion. Mel Gibson and Rupert Murdoch are two well-known figures who have also had some of the largest divorce settlements.
High-asset divorces might involve many components, including the division of real estate, retirement accounts, business assets, art and more. When valuing assets and negotiating a settlement, individuals may wish to consult an attorney to aid in forming a property division agreement.