No divorce is easy, but high-asset couples have more property, and more complex types of property than other couples, making their divorces more complicated. Few couples in the world have more assets than Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos.
Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief executive of Amazon, has a net worth estimated at $118 billion, making him the richest person in the world. He and MacKenzie have been married for 25 years, meaning that she helped him as he grew his bookselling website into one of the largest technology companies on Earth. They have four children. The couple announced their split last year amid a scandal involving an affair and an alleged extortion and blackmail scheme by tabloid newspaper the National Enquirer.
The ex-spouses have expressed their support for each other and appear to be resolving their divorce amicably. MacKenzie said in May that she would be donating half her assets to charity.
According to press reports, the divorce settlement will leave MacKenzie with 25% of the Amazon stock owned by the couple. She will have a 4% stake in the company, worth about $38 billion.
While it’s relatively straightforward to divide a savings account in half in a divorce, more complex assets require more work. Shares in a business are notoriously difficult to divide. Often, these assets must be analyzed by valuation experts before the parties even know how much they are worth. Only then can the parties negotiate the best ways to divide the assets.
Property division is often the most time-consuming and technically demanding part of a divorce. People who own a business or have other complex assets should seek out help from an attorney with experience in high-asset divorce.
