Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife, MacKenzie Bezos, has divested herself of about $400 million worth of the Amazon stock she received as part of the couple’s divorce settlement — potentially providing the wherewithal for the charitable activities she’s planning.
- Word of the sale (or stock transfer) came indirectly, in an end-of-year filing that Jeff Bezos made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing notes that the Amazon CEO exercises sole voting authority over nearly 19.5 million Amazon shares that he doesn’t have the sole power to dispose of. That matches the stake that MacKenzie Bezos holds — and CNBC notes it’s about 200,000 fewer shares than she was granted in last April’s settlement.
- Those 200,000 shares translate to about $400 million at the current price. Even after the transactions, her Amazon holdings amount to nearly $36 billion, putting her among the world’s top billionaires.
- There’s no indication what the proceeds were used for, but shortly after the divorce was announced, MacKenzie Bezos said she signed the Giving Pledge, which commits her to giving half her fortune to philanthropic causes. Her best-known charity is the Bystander Revolution, which focuses on anti-bullying campaigns, and she’s also played a prominent role in the Bezos Family Foundation, the Day One Fund, TheDream.US and other charities.