Don’t know how the elite folks on HN will take it but this was first reported by TMZ!
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Wife MacKenzie Are Divorcing
31–39 of 39 posts
Re: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Wife MacKenzie Are Divorcing
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
From my perspective, his wife was there to help enable the creation of Amazon. Jeff Bezos entered a contract when he got married where he believed an equal division of assets made sense. He apparently believed that contract made sense for 25 years. Who are we to say now that she shouldn't be entitled to half? > why would anyone stay married if they could gain $x billion from a divorce? Why not? Two people share a poo…
> From my perspective, his wife was there to help enable the creation of Amazon. I don't know what she did or didn't do, so I don't want to discuss this case specifically. But the idea that your wife or husband contributes half of your work is not something I agree with. I understand that if one of them spent their whole married life prioritizing their home and family instead of their career so the other one could fo…
> But the idea that your wife or husband contributes half of your work is not something I agree with.
If you believe that, you really shouldn't ever get married, most certainly not in a community property state. Washington state is a community property state, which means that all of Amazon is equally both of theirs, legally.
Re: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Wife MacKenzie Are Divorcing
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
> From my perspective, his wife was there to help enable the creation of Amazon. I don't know what she did or didn't do, so I don't want to discuss this case specifically. But the idea that your wife or husband contributes half of your work is not something I agree with. I understand that if one of them spent their whole married life prioritizing their home and family instead of their career so the other one could fo…
> But the idea that your wife or husband contributes half of your work is not something I agree with. How do you know what would have been accomplished without that person's spouse managing the home? What if Jeff Bezos couldn't devote nearly as much time to Amazon if he had to take kids to appointments or be there when a contractor was at the house? And what if those diversions caused Amazon to be a flop? I would say…
> How do you know what would have been accomplished without that person's spouse managing the home?
How do you know she didn't have her own career and the multi billionaires didn't have hired help to take care of their home? Should she be entitled to less than 50% if she worked as a regular employee in the company and they shared their domestic responsibilities equally?
> I would say that those contributions which were key to the success of the company absolutely do entitle you to 50%.
Driving your own kids to activities and washing some dishes is absolutely not key to the success of a huge company, or any company.
Re: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Wife MacKenzie Are Divorcing
#34It's a bit TMZ to have this on HN, but the big tech question is what ownership stake does the ex-wife have on Amazon? Assuming they didn't have a pre-nup, does she get 50% of his stake in Amazon? Does she get a board seat? That could have deep implications for Amazon if for example she decides to sell that ownership stake and dilutes Jeff Bezos' control.
This article is currently flagged, but I hope it gets "unflagged". Washington State is a community property state, which would normally mean all of Bezos' Amazon shares are owned equally by the both of them. I'm not a lawyer, but would be a good discussion to understand how the assets of the largest shareholder of America's largest (or 2nd largest) company will be split.
Re: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Wife MacKenzie Are Divorcing
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
> But the idea that your wife or husband contributes half of your work is not something I agree with. How do you know what would have been accomplished without that person's spouse managing the home? What if Jeff Bezos couldn't devote nearly as much time to Amazon if he had to take kids to appointments or be there when a contractor was at the house? And what if those diversions caused Amazon to be a flop? I would say…
> How do you know what would have been accomplished without that person's spouse managing the home? How do you know she didn't have her own career and the multi billionaires didn't have hired help to take care of their home? Should she be entitled to less than 50% if she worked as a regular employee in the company and they shared their domestic responsibilities equally? > I would say that those contributions which we…
> How do you know she didn't have her own career and the multi billionaires didn't have hired help to take care of their home? Should she be entitled to less than 50% if she worked as a regular employee in the company and they shared their domestic responsibilities equally?
Whether she had a career or not doesn't matter. If they found an amicable way to share responsibilities and during the entire 25 years of their marriage and Amazon's growth they became fabulously wealthy then it should be shared evenly. If Jeff Bezos felt like his wife was somehow undeserving of his wealth then he could have divorced her during the early years of Amazon's success.
> Driving your own kids to activities and washing some dishes is absolutely not key to the success of a huge company, or any company.
How do you know? Every moment you can spend working on your business instead of washing dishes is a moment you're contributing to your business' success. There's a reason for the phrase "Behind every successful [man|woman] there's a strong ____."
Re: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Wife MacKenzie Are Divorcing
#36Why flag this post? It is relevant. When Tiger woods got divorced his golf game spiraled downward. To say this will have absolutely zero impact on Amazon is naive. There are ownership issues that are worth billions to sort out.
Re: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Wife MacKenzie Are Divorcing
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
My point is that if she stays married she has no control over the company, if she divorces and gets 50% of her husband's stocks she gets a lot of control. Close to $50 billion last time I checked. That's a legal contract that makes no sense, why would anyone stay married if they could gain $x billion from a divorce?
From my perspective, his wife was there to help enable the creation of Amazon. Jeff Bezos entered a contract when he got married where he believed an equal division of assets made sense. He apparently believed that contract made sense for 25 years. Who are we to say now that she shouldn't be entitled to half? > why would anyone stay married if they could gain $x billion from a divorce? Why not? Two people share a poo…
She helped build Amazon. She was there at the beginning, she drove him to Seattle to do it in the first place. She was with him for the whole ride. It sucks they split, but IMO the Bezos-owned portion is as much hers as his.
Re: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Wife MacKenzie Are Divorcing
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can buy love until you get married and she wants her payday.
They've been married 25 years, well before Amazon became the huge success it is today. Saying she got married for a payday is terribly disingenuous.
Agreed. That's why I think this is probably a mistake.
Re: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Wife MacKenzie Are Divorcing
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
> From my perspective, his wife was there to help enable the creation of Amazon. I don't know what she did or didn't do, so I don't want to discuss this case specifically. But the idea that your wife or husband contributes half of your work is not something I agree with. I understand that if one of them spent their whole married life prioritizing their home and family instead of their career so the other one could fo…
> But the idea that your wife or husband contributes half of your work is not something I agree with. If you believe that, you really shouldn't ever get married, most certainly not in a community property state. Washington state is a community property state, which means that all of Amazon is equally both of theirs, legally.
It's more correct to say that you shouldn't ever get divorced in a community property state. If Amazon were based in Texas, it'd be a very different situation. When it comes to divorce, it doesn't matter where you made the union, it's where you're dissolving it.