SAN FRANCISCO: Amazon.com Inc Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos will retain voting control of his entire $143 billion stake in the company under a divorce settlement with his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, who will own 25 per cent of those shares, the couple said on Thursday, removing uncertainty over control of the online retailer.
The world’s richest couple had announced their impending divorce in a joint Twitter statement in January, causing some to worry that Jeff Bezos could wind up with less Amazon voting power or that he or MacKenzie would liquidate large positions.
“It takes the issue off the table, with less turbulence than you might have expected,” said an investor, whose company owns several million dollars worth of Amazon shares but who asked for anonymity because of a firm policy.
MacKenzie Bezos will wind up with a stake in Amazon that is worth roughly $36 billion. Her shares represent a 4 per cent stake in Amazon, according to a regulatory filing by the company. The Amazon shares will make her the world’s third-richest woman while Jeff Bezos will remain the world’s richest person, according to Forbes.
The couple, who tweeted separately on Thursday, disclosed that under their settlement MacKenzie will give up her interests in the Washington Post, which Jeff Bezos bought in 2013 and which has been a frequent target of criticism from US President Donald Trump, and the rocket company Blue Origin he founded in 2000.
“Grateful to have finished the process of dissolving my marriage with Jeff,” MacKenzie Bezos said in her tweet outlining the agreement, the first and only post from an account created this month.
The two did not provide any further financial details about the settlement.
Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, said in the filing that 4 per cent of its outstanding shares would be registered in MacKenzie Bezos’ name after court approval of the divorce, which is expected to occur in about 90 days.
The petition for divorce was filed in Washington state, a person familiar with the matter said.
Jeff Bezos, whom Amazon listed in its most recent proxy statement as its single largest shareholder with a 16.3 per cent stake, will keep sole voting authority over the shares unless MacKenzie donates them to a nonprofit or sells them in the open market. — Reuters
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