Uh Oh... should we take up a collection?


Bezos' Net Worth Cut In Half: Amazon CEO Announces He Is Getting A Divorce

Update: Following Bezos' announcement of his divorce from wife MacKenzie, Amazon has a message to the public (and its shareholders in particular): Personal issues aside, Bezos will remain "focused on and engaged in all aspects of the company".

Put another way: Please don't sell our stock (we just put up the 'world's most valuable company' plaques).

Given the abysmal performance of the FAANG cohort during Q4, Amazon's trepidation that the divorce news could hurt the company's share price is certainly understandable - particularly since the performance of David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital following his divorce has helped cement the conventional wisdom that companies (and asset managers) can struggle when their leaders' attentions are divided by personal issues.

The divorce is coming at a particularly inopportune time for Amazon, which recently announced its plans to split its HQ2 between New York City and Virginia (with some left over for Nashville). And despite the company's intimidating market cap, Amazon just became profitable last year after two-and-a-half decades of growth-focused expansion.

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Just days after Amazon finally seized the mantle of world's most-valuable company - surpassing Microsoft and Apple - CEO Jeff Bezos, currently the world's richest man with a net worth upwards of $135 billion, has released some surprising - though not entirely unexpected - news: He's getting a divorce.

Bezos revealed during a tweet on Wednesday that after a trial separation, he and his wife MacKenzie would be seeking a divorce - though he insisted that the two would "remain friends." The two recently launched a charitable organization to help the homeless and specifically homeless children.



The two have been together for 25 years, which means their union is about as old as Amazon itself, which Bezos founded in 1994. It's unclear whether MacKenzie and Jeff signed a prenup. Since Washington is a "community property" state, half of all assets accrued in the marriage would go to her. It's also a "no fault" state, meaning that these rules apply no matter what transpired to end the union.

But assuming for a minute that they didn't and she successfully wins half of his assets, the 50% expected hit to Bezos' net worth would lead him to drop from world's richest to world's fifth-richest man behind Bernard Arnault.



An even distribution of marital assets would leave MacKenzie a billionaire with just under $70 billion - or roughly $2.8 billion for each year she was married to Bezos.

While the factors behind the divorce are unclear, it's worth noting that Bezos' physical transformation from an impish nerd to a body builder with swollen biceps received a lot of media attention last year.

Perhaps he's looking over at fellow tech CEO Jack Dorsey and wondering if the grass may in fact be greener on the other side.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news...s-he-getting-divorce

Why is divorce so expensive:
Because it's worth it!

I'm surprised they kept it together as long as they have. Wealth that great earned in such a short period tends to change people. That change is typically divergent. Unless a couple concentrates on changing in the same direction, they grow apart. It takes two to make a marriage but only one to destroy it.

It ain't like he's gonna have to be skipping lunch anytime soon.

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
Wealth that great earned in such a short period tends to change people.

Really?



... I'm not seeing it.

quote:

It's unclear whether MacKenzie and Jeff signed a prenup.

Kind of an important detail to know before making any conclusions, no?

quote:

the 50% expected hit to Bezos' net worth would lead him to drop from world's richest to world's fifth-richest man

At a certain point, it's just a game of prestige. Is being 5th really going to hurt the guy?

It does mean that two divorce lawyers will now become the 6th and 7th richest people in the world though

But it also raises the question: if there is no pre-nup and his property was always subject to community division, was he really ever the 1st richest man in the world? Because, in a community property jurisdiction, half of the money was his wife's to begin with.

New wife will arrive in 2 days.

quote:

Originally posted by LDD:

quote:

It's unclear whether MacKenzie and Jeff signed a prenup.

Kind of an important detail to know before making any conclusions, no?

quote:

the 50% expected hit to Bezos' net worth would lead him to drop from world's richest to world's fifth-richest man

At a certain point, it's just a game of prestige. Is being 5th really going to hurt the guy?

It does mean that two divorce lawyers will now become the 6th and 7th richest people in the world though

But it also raises the question: if there is no pre-nup and his property was always subject to community division, was he really ever the 1st richest man in the world? Because, in a community property jurisdiction, half of the money was his wife's to begin with.

LOL

The lawyers would be 7th and 8th, because wouldn't that mean his soon to be ex-wife would become the 6th?

quote:

Originally posted by kx90:
LOL

The lawyers would be 7th and 8th, because wouldn't that mean his soon to be ex-wife would become the 6th?

You're right. But...

if proceedings go on long enough, they might make it past Bezos himself

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/09...e-divorce/index.html

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.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

so they got married before Amazon even started.

quote:

Originally posted by kz1000:
New wife will arrive in 2 days.

LOL!

Talk about Prime

I sense the fact that it became public in what seems to be a joint announcement means that a deal has been reached. They're putting an amicable face on it, whatever it might really be.

I don't expect a long drawn out court fight.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
Wealth that great earned in such a short period tends to change people.

Really?



... I'm not seeing it.

In 1998, just 20 years ago he was worth what most of us are. Now as your meme suggests he can do what he wants. He has F you money. That kind of power in such a short period changes a person. He had F you money ten years ago. Seems he waited 10 years to say it to his wife.

quote:

Originally posted by LDD:

quote:

Originally posted by kx90:
LOL

The lawyers would be 7th and 8th, because wouldn't that mean his soon to be ex-wife would become the 6th?

You're right. But...

if proceedings go on long enough, they might make it past Bezos himself

True, true. Add in child support and possibly alimony and he'll be 8th.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

Really?

...

... I'm not seeing it.

This is an oft-repeated story:

Early in life he's a nerd that attractive women will not look at twice. He makes a fortune, becomes famous and also hits his mid-life crisis. On top of this, he gets a personal trainer, adds injectable substances into his body and transforms physically as well as fiscally.

Now attractive women want him and his money. Like a kid in a candy shop, he suddenly gets the youth he could only dream about from afar. Boom, its divorce time.



.

quote:

An even distribution of marital assets would leave MacKenzie a billionaire with just under $70 billion - or roughly $2.8 billion for each year she was married to Bezos.

... and would make MacKenzie the world's most eligible bachelorette.

darthfuster, TigerDore... Ya'll might want to adjust your Sarcasm Detectors.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
darthfuster, TigerDore... Ya'll might want to adjust your Sarcasm Detectors.

Ha! Not the first time I backed into the straight man role....

I remember hearing Trump say a few years ago that anything over 30 million is just ego. He said $30M is where you can do really anything you want. If I ever got there, I’d disappear. The only thing I’d want the wealth for is to buy my own time, for time is the one commodity allocated to all men equally. Death makes equals of us all.

Money is not that relevant to anybody in this story.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
darthfuster, TigerDore... Ya'll might want to adjust your Sarcasm Detectors.

I got your sarcasm and I thought it was humorous. I just thought your photo was a great visual illustration of the point I was trying to make. Maybe I should have put a lol or smiley face in front of my post.



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