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The most expensive divorce ever recorded was finalized yesterday between Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, a novelist who played a key role in the success of the retail giant.
She announced the news outright in his very first tweet. "Happy to give [Jeff] all my holdings in the Washington Post and Blue Origin, and 75% of our Amazon shares as well as the voting control of my shares. "
It is not said that the 25% of the shares of the Amazon couple he owns, or 4% of the total society, currently represent $ 36.5 billion. The windfall it should receive in about 90 days will propel it into the upper echelon of the richest population in the world. For now, it ranks 23rd in the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, two places ahead of casino mogul and mega-donor Republican Sheldon Adelson for reference. In women, she is # 4.
As you can imagine, Bezos seems ready to move on to this stage that has seen her husband's extramarital getaways make the headlines. "Grateful for the past and I look forward to the continuation," she said.
But wait a minute on that. There are so few billionaire women that it is worth noting when you join the rarefied club.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 06: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos (left) and MacKenzie Bezos attend the SEAN PENN J / P HRO gala dinner at Milk Studios on January 6 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Greg Doherty / Patrick McMullan via Getty Image)
The couple, maybe in better times. Photo of Greg Doherty, Patrick McMullan via Getty Image
By ForbesLast month's last count, there were 2,153 billionaires in the world; 244 of them were women. Of these billionaires, only a quarter are self-taught.
The shortage of rich and wealthy women has been verified for years and some of the explanations will not scare you away: women are underrepresented in C-Suite and remain marginalized in the venture capital universe. Women's aversion to risk – whether in investment or entrepreneurship – is also sometimes considered a factor.
Whatever your feelings about billionaires – they are not exactly the most popular band these days – it's important that money, not to mention huge sums, end up being under the control of women. There is, of course, the power inherent in a large bank account, and women tend to display admirable traits in the management of their wealth. For example, they are more interested in "sustainable" investments than men – 84% versus 67%, according to a survey by Morgan Stanley. And The Economist Intelligence and RBC Wealth Management found that wealthy women considered "the ability to have the greatest impact" was their most important factor in charitable giving. Men's? Fiscal advantages.
No doubt it will be fascinating to see what MacKenzie Bezos does with his new individual fortune. She hinted that she had things in preparation on Thursday: "I'm excited about my own projects," she said, so we may not have to wait long for the knowledge.
This document was originally published in the Fortune's Broadsheet. Subscribe here.
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