Amazon's founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, have reached a divorce settlement.
The world's wealthiest person, whose portfolio includes The Washington Post, and MacKenzie Bezos announced the dissolution of their marriage in separate statements on Twitter.
MacKenzie Bezos said she will give Jeff Bezos all of her interests in the Post and his space exploration company, Blue Origin, and 75 percent of their Amazon stock, as well as voting control of her shares to “support his continued contributions with the teams of these incredible companies.”
"Grateful to have finished the process of dissolving my marriage with Jeff with support from each other and everyone who reached out to us in kindness," she said.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, MacKenzie Bezos will retain roughly 4 percent of Amazon's outstanding common stock, worth about $35.6 billion, which will make her the third-biggest shareholder at the company, CNBC reported.
Jeff Bezos will remain the richest person in the world, with a net worth above $110 billion, per early Thursday afternoon stock prices, according to CNBC.
They expect an official divorce decree to be issued in early July, the SEC filing states.
The couple, who married in 1993 and have four children, said they look forward to their new relationship as co-parents.
"I’m so grateful to all my friends and family for reaching out with encouragement and love. It means more than you know. MacKenzie most of all," Jeff Bezos said. "I’m grateful for her support and for her kindness in this process."
The couple announced on Jan. 9 they would divorce.
Hours later, the National Enquirer posted a short story on its website saying that Jeff Bezos was having an affair with former television host Lauren Sanchez. The following day, the tabloid devoted 11 pages to a story in its print edition on the relationship.
In February, Bezos accused the National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc., of “extortion and blackmail.” He claimed the media company threatened to publish embarrassing photos of him and Sanchez if he did not drop an investigation into how the tabloid obtained text messages exposing the affair.
