What just happened? Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission disclosed that he has transferred around 19.7 million shares of his company’s stock to his ex-wife, MacKenzie, per their divorce settlement.
A quarter of their joint stake in Amazon, the stock bundle is worth roughly $37 billion, making her the 23rd richest person in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The filing also revealed that Jeff Bezos sold 968,148 shares of Amazon stock over the past few days, netting him around $1.4 billion after taxes. A spokesperson for Amazon did not comment on the purpose of Bezos’ latest stock sale when pinged by Forbes although large sales like this are not uncommon.
In the past, Bezos has unloaded chunks of Amazon stock in order to fund his space exploration company, Blue Origin.
MacKenzie Bezos in May pledged to donate at least half of her fortune through the Giving Pledge, a charitable organization that encourages wealthy individuals to contribute at least half of their net worth to philanthropic causes. It was founded by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates in 2010 and as of today, 204 of the world’s wealthiest individuals, couples and families have signed on.
Masthead credit: Elena Sibert
