Jeff Bezos remains the richest man in the world after divorce – Quartz

The ink is barely dry on the divorce laws of Jeff and Mackenzie Bezos, filed Friday in King County, Washington. After more than 25 years of marriage and about six months of separation, both are legally divided.

As reported by Bloomberg, Mackenzie is expected to begin receiving the approximately 20 million shares of Amazon that were part of the divorce settlement. With a value of nearly $ 38 billion, they represent 4% of the company's total stock – enough to propel it to 22nd place among the richest people in the world. (Jeff Bezos' first place remains unchanged.)

Mackenzie Bezos has chosen to give her ex-husband 75% of her stock of Amazon and to exercise a voting right on what she keeps, although he may legally claim to a larger number of his empire, as reported by Ephrat Livni in a membership profile in Quartz. It retains ownership of the Washington Post and the Blue Origin space exploration start-up.

She will have to work hard if she wants to achieve the goals she set when she signed the Giving Pledge in May, promising to give her fortune to good causes. " until the safe is empty. " Mackenzie Bezos is almost 50 years old: Even though she lives to be 100, it may be hard for her to have enough opportunities to manage her fortune. The best-intentioned billionaire philanthropists find it difficult to yield their immense wealth faster than they do anymore. Bill and Melinda Gates, for example, donated more than $ 45 billion through their Gates Foundation, but they accumulated almost as much over the same period.

One solution might be to follow in Warren Buffett's footsteps. Rather than creating his own foundation, an expensive and tedious venture, he instead chose to transfer huge amounts of money to the Gates Foundation. But Mackenzie Bezos' comments in his letter, announcing his intention to give, promising to be "thoughtful" and to take "time, effort, and care," suggest a desire to no longer be sidelined.

Jeff Bezos, whose net worth is about three times that of his ex-wife, did not sign the Giving Pledge.