Jeff Bezos-Mackenzie divorce: Amazon CEO may no longer be the richest man in the world; good news to Bill Gates? A breathtaking cost for a split

The cost of a divorce is massively breathtaking! This statement is well-fitted for Amazon’s chief Jeff Bezos who currently holds the title of world’s richest man. It came as a shock to investors and experts across the world when Jeff Bezos made it official about his split with wife Mackenzie Bezos via Twitter account. The impact is such that now everyone is counting every dollar that Bezos will lose during separation with the wife. Just for your information, the cost of this divorce is mind-boggling. But did you know, the amount Jeff Bezos will most likely pay to wife Mackenzie during the divorce, will come as a piece of good news to Microsoft’s Bill Gates? Why? Because, the current richest man on earth will no longer be the richest, in fact, that title may soon fall in the hands of Gates, as a courtesy of Bezos divorce. 

To begin with the year 2019 came in as a wave of good news for Jeff Bezos, as his Amazon bagged him nearly $12.5 billion in markets in just 10 days. 

According to Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Jeff Bezos’ wealth now stands at $137 billion - where his net worth’s last change in amount was a rise of $224 million and year-to-date about $12.5 billion has been showered. 

This was due to Amazon share price which risen by over 11% so far in 2019’s trading session on Nasdaq. The Amazon share price ended at $1,501.97 on December 31, and since then it has jumped to a massive $1,667.44 on January 09, 2019. The stock price finished at $1,659.42 gradually higher by 0.17% on Nasdaq. 

Coming back to the divorce, a CNBC report claims that, this may be the most expensive divorce in history.

What this means is that Washington is referred as a ‘community property state’ - meaning that during divorce every property, penny, and debts will be divided equally between the couple if they cannot come to negotiation on their own. 

Hence, half billions of Jeff Bezos wealth will soon belong to Mackenzie if the couple does not draw a negotiation. 

If this the case, then Bezos wealth which currently stands at glorious $137 billion will be broken into half and result in nearly $69 billion. 

Now such will dramatically take Bezos ranking in Bloomberg Billionaire Index, down by four ranks. 

In the index, currently, Bezos is followed by Bill Gates at second spot with a wealth of $93 billion, Warren Buffett with $80 billion, Bernard Arnault with $72.6 billion and Amancio Ortega with $62.2 billion. 

Hate to break it to you! But Bezos will become the fifth richest man in the world post-divorce. 

(Image Source: Bloomberg Billionaire Index)

Well, this definitely comes as good news to Bill Gates who once upon a time ruled this crown for over a decade and was snatched by Bezos riding on the back of Amazon. 

Also, Gates has been in the Forbes list of the wealthiest people since 1987. From 1995 to 2017, Gates had kept the title of richest person in the world all but four of those years, then he went ahead to once again bagging the same position consistently from March 2014 to July 2017. Time changes from then, as Bezos began overtaking Gates positions.

It’s not just wealth which Bezos will divide with wife, the report further claims that settlement size will also force Bezos to sell some of his Amazon shares, which will also dilute his ownership and control of the company. 

Bezos’s ownership in Amazon is due to maximum stakes he holds. He has about 78,893,033 equity shares of Amazon which is results in majority stake of 16.3%. 

Post-divorce, Bezos’ shareholding may come down to 8%. This would bring Bezos just a couple of shares away from other two major investors in Amazon. 

After Bezos, currently The Vanguard Group, Inc and BlackRock, Inc are the largest shareholders of Amazon with the stake of 5.8% and 5.1% respectively. 

The share sale between Bezos and Mackenzie may impact negatively his ownership in Amazon ahead. Bezos has been with Amazon since inception, in fact with his hard work and knowledge this e-commerce company is now the world’s largest company, as it even clocked a $1 trillion mark after Apple. 

(Image Source: Amazon)

Jeffrey Preston ‘Jeff’ Bezos born January 12, 1964,  is a proud founder, chairman, CEO and president of Amejhnkcom board. He is a graduate from  Princeton University and founded Amazon in 1994.

Bezos started this largest e-commerce portal with his garage. His work in Amazon led him towards becoming a prominent dot-com entrepreneur and a billionaire. 

Amazon has been actively operating as an online store which sells books, movies, games, DVDs, music CDs, mobile phones, clothing, computer software and other accessories. 

If a 50-50 settlement is not the case, the other best option as per the report is a prenuptial agreement. Well, what will be the impact of this divorce on Bezos and his Amazon will be keenly watched.