Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos announced he would be divorcing his wife of 25 years on Wednesday morning.
Bezos, who founded Amazon in his garage in 1994, is considered the richest man in recorded world history with a net worth of $137 billion. And after “a long period of loving exploration,” Bezos and his wife, Mackenzie, announced they would be separating.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) January 9, 2019
“We feel incredibly lucky to have found each other and deeply grateful for every one of the years we have been married to each other,” he wrote. (RELATED: People Are Already Taking Bets On How Old Jeff Bezos’ Next Girlfriend Will Be)
Nobody really knows what “loving exploration” is or why these two broke up, and quite frankly, they probably don’t care. We care way more about whether or not the richest man in the word has a prenup.
And while the intimate agreements and details about Jeff Bezos’ marriage still remain uncertain, we have a pretty good guess as to what Bezos will be up against if he does not have a prenuptial agreement.
First, Jeff and Mackenzie primarily live in Washington state. Market Watch points out that this state is considered a “community property state,” which means couples who do not have a prenup split all property down the middle. That means homes, cars and any other valuable properties are shared by two people.
But the couple’s relationship extends far beyond Washington. Bezos is considered the 25th largest landowner in the country, with properties scattered across Medina, Washington; Washington, D.C.; Beverly Hills, California; Van Horn, Texas; and New York City.
His home in Washington, D.C., is the largest in the district. He converted the former museum into his home back in 2017:
Amazon Founder & Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos has purchased the biggest house in D.C., the former Textile Museum for $23M cash. pic.twitter.com/BUEMA4KlBq
— DC Maryland Virginia (@DMVFollowers) January 12, 2017
Another telling tidbit about the couple’s relationship: the two got engaged only three months after meeting, when Mackenzie was just 23 years old. Jeff wasn’t much older at just 29 years old. Three months after getting engaged, they were married and planning to move across the country so he could start up Amazon in 1994. It doesn’t exactly sound like they had much time to fit an airtight prenup into that schedule.
Of course, neither Jeff nor Mackenzie has directly addressed a prenup and they have never spoken about the matter publicly. This is entirely speculation. There’s a chance we won’t find out until matters of the divorce are hammered out in the coming months — if at all.
If they don’t have a prenup and Mackenzie ends up getting half of Jeff’s assents, she stands to make up to $68.5 billion. I’m no money manager, but that sure sounds like a lot of coin.