
With $137B at Stake, Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos to Divorce - kposehn
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-09/jeff-and-mackenzie-bezos-are-getting-a-divorce-after-25-years
======
refurb
I'm not sure the money is really at stake. They were married when Amazon was
just a tiny start-up and Washington is a community property state.

Half of all assets gained during the marriage belong to his wife. The only way
it could be less is if she agreed to take something less.

~~~
xiphias2
Why wouldn't she be ok with less money? Money over $10 million is just about
power, you have all your needs met. She can get significantly more of course
(probably few billions of dollars, why not?), but I don't think she cares
about it that much. As MacKenzie went into the background when she wasn't
needed anymore (which is not true for power hungry people), she doesn't look
like the power hungry person.

~~~
perfmode
With $10M she probably wouldn’t be able to afford the upkeep of the house in
which she presently lives. Or upkeep of her jet.

~~~
xiphias2
I see, than it's maybe $100M that's mostly enough for that. What's important
is that most of the money wouldn't get spent to buy things by Jeff or her.

------
gumby
Having got through a divorce (though in California) I don't see how this need
make a huge difference to AMZN. The division of assets is not a taxable event,
so no big stock sales. She could sign a voting rights agmt to vote her shares
always with her ex husband's -- this could remove any "change of control"
issues that would reduce the value of the company, and if they agree are going
to continue as friends this would likely be no big deal.

In other words, a private matter and likely not "news" in the sense of
implying some shift in the tech sector.

------
samfisher83
If she gets half does the entire amount become taxable immediately? I am sure
Uncle Sam would love 6+ billion dollar return.

~~~
sdinsn
No. She is taking half of the assets that are _already hers_ (shared with
Jeff).

------
so_tired
What if getting a divorce is the only way a tech founder can lose control of
his company? (e.g. facebook, etc)

What if u r a billionaire, and pledged to give away half your money to
charity, then get divorced, and end up with nothing?

These are very pressing issues.

~~~
perfmode
A pledge is not a legally binding contract afaik.

