When Jeff Bezos and his wife Mackenzie Bezos announced that they were divorcing after being married for a quarter of a century, there was widespread speculation about the future of the company since Mrs. Bezos had equal voting rights as her husband. As such, it caused a lot of uncertainty among investors in the company. However, all those worries are now a thing of the past as the couple reached a settlement by way of which Jeff Bezos will continue to have complete control of the company, while his ex-wife will hold 4% in Amazon. When the divorce was announced, it was believed that the founder of Amazon who holds 25% in the company, will end up with less power in terms of voting rights.
According to the terms of the divorce settlement, Mackenzie Bezos will have 4% of the company, and that alone makes it worth around $36 billion. The Amazon holding alone makes her one of the richest women in the world. On the other hand, the fact that Jeff Bezos did not have to liquidate any of his stock, also helps him retain his spot as the world’s richest person. Mackenzie Bezos will, however, give up her interest in the Washington Post.
Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos but throughout the early days of the company, his wife Mackenzie Bezos was a hugely influential figure and is known to have contributed heavily towards the early growth of the company. That being said, Jeff Bezos remains the most influential person in the company, and any liquidation of is power inside the company would have made it very difficult for Amazon to keep growing. His vision is regarded as the primary reason behind the astronomical rise of Amazon over the past decade and a half, which is why; investors and analysts heaved a sigh of relief when his voting rights remained as it is. An analyst at D. A. Davidson stated,
“When I think about Amazon, and the influence Bezos has on Amazon, I would argue his influence would be the same if he had 51 percent shares outstanding or 1 percent. I think his influence is dictated by his vision for Amazon.”
The couple only revealed the details that would have been of interest to investors but other than that, no other details were put forward regarding the settlement. However, it is believed that the settlement was amicable in every way.
