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Jeff Bezos: World's richest man agrees $35bn divorce
The world's richest man, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and his wife MacKenzie have agreed [to] a record-breaking divorce settlement of at least $35bn (£27bn). Ms Bezos keeps a 4% stake in the online retail giant, worth $35.6bn on its own.
[...] Prior to the settlement, Mr Bezos held a 16.3% stake in Amazon. He will retain 75% of that holding but Ms Bezos has transferred all of her voting rights to her former husband. She will also give up her interests in the Washington Post newspaper and Mr Bezos' space travel firm Blue Origin.
Amazon is now [a] vast online retail business. Last year, it generated sales of $232.8bn and it has helped Mr Bezos and his family amass a fortune of $131bn, according to Forbes magazine.
[...] The divorce deal dwarfs a previous $3.8bn record set in 1999 by art dealer Alec Wildenstein and his wife Jocelyn, who became well-known for her cosmetic surgery.
MacKenzie Bezos (soon to be MacKenzie Tuttle?):
She is now the third-richest woman in the world, as well as one of the wealthiest overall.
Also at USA Today.
See also: MacKenzie Bezos to give half of her $36 billion fortune to charity
Previously: Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO Worth $137 Billion, to Divorce Wife of 25 Years
Jeff Bezos Accuses National Enquirer of Blackmail
The Story Behind the Instant Classic "Bezos Exposes Pecker" Headline
Saudi Arabia's Government Allegedly Hacked Into Jeff Bezos's Phone
(Score: 5, Insightful) by NateMich on Sunday July 07 2019, @09:40PM (28 children)
Why the hell did he ever get married?
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Sunday July 07 2019, @09:58PM (24 children)
Because
They have been married for 25 years, presumably happily for most of that time, and Jeff has given up nothing in his divorce.
MacKenzie can continue to live the life of a fabulously wealthy oligarch and so can Jeff.
From what I gather Jeff decided he wanted to sleep with some other woman so MacKenzie was out the door. The question you should be asking is how much money will the other woman get when that divorce happens?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday July 07 2019, @10:06PM (19 children)
How do you figure? Because he still has "more than enough money"? Not if he wanted to pump all of the Amazon stock into Blue Origin.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Sunday July 07 2019, @10:19PM (15 children)
Because:
He gave up nothing, because of he keeps control of what he had before, and he also has more than enough money. No need for the quotation marks.
Of course when Lauren Sánchez decides she wants half he will be giving up something.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday July 07 2019, @10:55PM (9 children)
Mr. Bezos certainly did lose something here, even if it's not voting rights. Hint:
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by NotSanguine on Sunday July 07 2019, @11:22PM (6 children)
Sure. But seriously, how many homes, cars, yachts, jets, suits, gold-plated boxers, solid gold toilets and jewel-encrusted toothbrushes does one person need? Or want, for that matter?
Personally, I could live quite happily and not worry about money ever again with, say $10,000,000.00.
Any material losses that Jeff Bezos may realize won't change his lifestyle or ability to manage his affairs as he wishes at all.
Or am I missing something here?
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by sgleysti on Sunday July 07 2019, @11:31PM (5 children)
One. I want one solid gold toilet.
(Score: 2) by sgleysti on Sunday July 07 2019, @11:35PM (4 children)
Maybe not the lid though; that can still be some kind of nice, hygenic, easy-to-clean nonporous plastic. The rest of it, yes, solid gold. One is enough.
I totally wanted to visit the Guggenheim when they had the solid gold toilet exhibit up. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gold-toilet-guggenheim-museum_n_57db8482e4b08cb14094df3a [huffpost.com] Come to think of it, taking a dump once on one of these would probably be enough.
(Score: 2) by Rupert Pupnick on Monday July 08 2019, @07:09PM (3 children)
Plastic lid?? Cheapskate!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @08:31PM
They now have all stainless public toilets (Sonoma, CA has one that also UV sanitizes between uses.)
A stainless toilet seat and a solid gold toilet would give you the best of both worlds. However, you might want to look into dissimilar metal issues because either the Steel, Gold, or the non-plastic pipes may corrode as a result of the electrical potential differences between them.
(Score: 2) by sgleysti on Tuesday July 09 2019, @01:35AM (1 child)
Solid metal would feel too cold/hot depending on the temperature differential. It's a comfort thing. What good is a solid gold toilet if you can't even shit in comfort on it?
(Score: 2) by Rupert Pupnick on Tuesday July 09 2019, @02:36AM
If you can afford a gold toilet, you can afford to have the seat temperature controlled. And have it motorized so you don’t have to worry about lifting and lowering it!
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Sunday July 07 2019, @11:43PM (1 child)
He has lost nothing that he will ever notice.
It really makes no difference if he has $20 billion or $30 billion.
He even kept the voting rights for the shares he had to give her.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Monday July 08 2019, @01:51AM
Yes, it does makes a difference when he has been selling off $1 billion of stock per year to help fund Blue Origin. It's a long road to New Armstrong.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Monday July 08 2019, @02:09AM
IANAL nor legal expert, but IIRC in most US states, if Bezos and Lauren Sánchez divorced, she would get 1/2 (maybe) of the marital assets gained during the divorce- not what he had going into the marriage. So if Bezos lost money, she might get nothing. And if he could prove in court that she caused the loss, well, I don't know, but in cases like this it's best if both have pre-nuptial agreements.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday July 08 2019, @02:42AM (3 children)
There is never more than enough... Blue Origin alone could eat up $100bn in startup costs.
What I find interesting is that the Bezos family fortune amounts to over half of Amazon's highest annual gross sales... even if you give Amazon credit for having run these kinds of sales volumes for 20 years (which they haven't, it's been a growing thing) - the Bezos have managed to pocket > 2.5% of every dollar spent on Amazon - that's almost as good as Visa and MasterCard...
Oh, and while Amazon stock performance over the years has been highly volatile but ultimately impressive, since going public, Visa stock has been simply impressive - and less volatile than the market in general.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @03:04AM
And yet look what you can do with only 3 billion
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/space-exploration-technologies#section-overview [crunchbase.com]
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday July 08 2019, @03:27AM (1 child)
You might be thinking that Blue Origin is going to be a business, but unless Jeff can come up with some sort of plan that would actually attract investment, it is no more than a very expensive hobby.
If he hasn't got $100 billion to throw at his hobby, and the banks won't lend it to him he will have to take up golf.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Monday July 08 2019, @11:38AM
Hey, not saying he's got it hard or anything... but if he had a Gates/Buffet style vision that involved rockets, $100B is easily disposed of in chasing that dream.
Personally, I'd much rather see the large fortunes (top 0.01%) be disposed of quickly, rather than sat upon like Smaug's hoard. You've "earned" it somehow or another, now do something with it within 10 years, or lose it back to the people you "earned" it from in the first place.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @12:41AM
He still has more money and less ex-wives than The Donald.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Immerman on Monday July 08 2019, @02:39PM (1 child)
How about because it was never *his* money to begin with. He hadn't made it before they were married, and as a married couple it was *their* money - the whole point of a traditional marriage (even back when women were chattel) is that it's a partnership to allow mutual support and specialization of duties including child rearing, housekeeping, money earning, etc. And by all accounts she made some pretty serious compromises in her own career in order to support his vision. It eventually paid off, but without her own sacrifices and support it might well not have done so.
Divorce is just a question of how you divy up your shared assets, and decide if any ongoing support is called for in exchange for ongoing responsibilities (i.e. if she's been raising the kids while he funds it, that relationship is generally presumed to continue until the kids leave home). If you want to retain private assets in a marriage then you need a pre-nup to establish beforehand that this is *not* a traditional mutual support business partnership.
(Score: 2) by wisnoskij on Wednesday July 10 2019, @06:07PM
Do you seriously believe that she was given 70 billion dollars to take care of the children?
Also, that is not what marriage ever was. Marriage is the act of a man taking over the rearing of a girl from her father (most commonly in exchange for some monetary or property compensation).
(Score: 4, Insightful) by RandomFactor on Sunday July 07 2019, @10:55PM (2 children)
My opinion is currently in a quantum state on this. Marriage is a mutual agreement. It depends who wasn't living up to their part of the bargain.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 3, Troll) by Username on Sunday July 07 2019, @11:22PM (1 child)
Marriage is about sacrifice. Sacrificing your single life to dedicate yourself to your spouse and family for the rest of your life. Even if your spouse doesn't live up to your expectations, or you fall out of love, there is no need to get a divorce. He could have happily supported his wife and his girlfriend, his wife should have tried to convince him not to indulge in his sexual desires with other women. Or best both worlds, he takes a second wife. Not like he cannot support two or 12 wives.
This divorce is just him demonstrating his megalomania. About he has the power to do whatever he wants, and ants cannot do anything about it. Truly a horrible person this bezos.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by https on Monday July 08 2019, @02:55PM
If you think giving up the single life is a sacrifice instead of a boon, you're never going to be happily married.
Offended and laughing about it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @08:28PM
And he outed himself about it after the Saudis threatened to release it instead.
The result being that his wife was in a good position to claim half or more if they didn't have a prenupt due to the breach of the contract of marriage.
So yeah the settlement she's getting is the least he can do after not just fucking around, but doing it without first getting her permission.
(Score: 1, Troll) by legont on Monday July 08 2019, @02:18AM (1 child)
She was writing the Amazon's business plan while he was driving them to Seattle. The whole idea was probably hers. He got off way to easy. She should have get at least 75%.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by legont on Tuesday July 09 2019, @02:25AM
WOW, Bezos have account here and moderating...)))
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @02:48AM
Extraterrestrial influence.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Sunday July 07 2019, @09:47PM
Good to know that I am poor enough to marry out of love if I ever wanted to.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 07 2019, @09:57PM (7 children)
No woman ever earned a billion dollars, only leached it.
(Score: 5, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 07 2019, @10:27PM
In general, no human ever earned a billion dollars, only leached it from the working class.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 07 2019, @11:29PM
FYI...
https://www.thoughtco.com/leach-and-leech-1689431 [thoughtco.com]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Monday July 08 2019, @01:07AM (2 children)
Speaking in the proper sense** of earning, no man either.
---
** earn - obtain (money) in return for labour or services.
Show me any labour or service provided by a single person that worth billion dollars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @01:31AM (1 child)
the person who invented/discovered the "zero" did humankind a service worth a billion dollars, at least.
curiously enough nobody had that much money at the time ...
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday July 08 2019, @02:37AM
Can you imagine human civilization without fire? Or without Pytagora's theorem? Or without heliocentric model?
Point: are the discovery mentioned above to be considered as "services"?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @06:46AM (1 child)
Wow. You're really bitter aren't you?
Did some mean lady do bad things to you? Poor baby!
I guess the upside is that you're posting here instead of taking your anger and bitterness out on women with violence.
Or are you just taking a break from rape and murder to post here?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @08:05PM
You two should get a divorce.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Kilo110 on Sunday July 07 2019, @10:00PM (4 children)
Do the tabloids even care at this point? Bezos is rich and wants to fuck barely legal girls. What else is there?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday July 07 2019, @10:10PM
There's a single and rich MacKenzie Someone-or-Other who will have man candy thrown at her.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Funny) by PartTimeZombie on Sunday July 07 2019, @11:50PM (1 child)
Jeff's next ex-wife is 49. What is the age of consent where you live?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @03:26AM
Sex is forbidden after 50.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @02:14AM
I'm poor and want to fuck barely legal girls. What's your point?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 07 2019, @10:54PM (12 children)
These expenses keep rising and rising and are accumulating in the very rich much faster than elsewhere. I wonder why? Does IOER have anything to do with it?
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 07 2019, @10:59PM (8 children)
Bernie never mentioned IOER you racist fuck!
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Sunday July 07 2019, @11:25PM
Sock puppeting and downmodding your sock puppet.
Cute.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Sunday July 07 2019, @11:27PM (6 children)
My mistake. You didn't downmod your sock puppet.
My bad.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @03:16AM (5 children)
It's a joke, look for one 2020 presidential candidate even mentioning the fed besides Trump (who mentions it in a completely wrong way).
Interesting, none offer any monetary policy at all (once again except Trump, who wants to continue or even accelerate what was going on under Obama).
But printing huge sums of money and giving it to banks risk free while hoping it "trickles down" is far more important for inequality than anything else the government could possibly do.
Right here is ~$30 billion per year of free money to big banks:
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/IOER/ [stlouisfed.org]
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/EXCSRESNS [stlouisfed.org]
And with reserve requirements of only 10% that means $300 billion in new dollars can be created by these banks each year. Why is no one mentioning this?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @04:12AM (3 children)
And that has what, exactly, to do with who's bumping uglies with Mackenzie Bezos? Or who Jeff Bezos is banging?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @04:31AM (2 children)
Look at the title. Why is this the "most expensive divorce in history"? That this is the case is a symptom of the problem.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @06:34AM (1 child)
Divorce is the result of interest rate policies?
That's a new one for me, but if you want to believe that, go right ahead. Who am I to try to disabuse you of your delusions?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @12:38PM
No, not divorce, the record expense of the divorce. You seem to have serious reading comprehension problems. Possibly a bot.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @06:42AM
It's a conspiracy by the lizard people to steal your toilet paper. And once they have all of it, they will slip laxatives in all your food at every meal. Then you're just have normal diarrhea instead the mouth version.
A setback for you, definitely, but a boon for the rest of us. Hooray for the lizard people!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @04:13AM (2 children)
Nope. Next question.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @04:44AM (1 child)
So the creation of ~$2 trillion dollars likely primarily used to pump the stock market has nothing to do with how rich Jeff Bezos was?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @06:35AM
Not significantly, no. And it certainly has nothing to do with his divorce.
Get a grip.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by c0lo on Monday July 08 2019, @12:40AM (2 children)
Like... why would one care?
It's inconsequential for all people in the world, except probably less than 100 of them.
We could have had a nice a 'nice' aristarchus submission [soylentnews.org] instead, the subject of that one is significant for at least a double number of people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @04:12AM (1 child)
I second that motion.
Hmm, damn. Portland's off my list of cities to bug out to. Seattle is looking ok so far but need to give it a longer look. Want to get somewhere on the west coast before SHTF at the very least.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @06:39AM
That's some serious paranoid ideation you got there, friend. Have you been taking your meds?
Given that, I'd recommend Portland, so you can be our new Michael David Crawford. I miss him. I won't miss you.
Perhaps you can go to the glory holes there too. Good Times!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 08 2019, @03:13AM
...no matter how you get it
(Score: 1) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Monday July 08 2019, @12:17PM
it's almost like that's more money than a single person can effectively manage and that the money hurt all of his most important relationships, if not outright turning him into a monster where he not only thought he could be disloyal but get away with it.
No wonder he wants to build a spaceship and fly away, that's embarrassing.
It's not that difficult to be an awful caricaturish oligarch, but to be the epitome thereof, you might want to go hide somewhere you can rewrite history.
But really, we should take all of this money away and arrest him for spying on everybody. If assange is breaking the espionage law, how can alexa not be?
And why was my laptop/router/toothbrush rerouted to a surprise extra mysterious stop during shipment? Why do the human resources and management practices of his company so closely resemble the practices of cults when they mentally breakdown their members?
Why are the people who are ruining the world by monopolizing the most obvious business ideas, and then ruining them, being rewarded the most?
Riddle me that.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Monday July 08 2019, @03:17PM
It's sad that they fell apart and I hope the kids are okay.
Oh, and money stuff.