Amazon's Bezos Finalises World's Costliest Divorce

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his ex-wife, MacKenzie, finalised the biggest divorce settlement in history on Thursday, leaving him with 75 per cent of their stock in the tech giant and giving her nearly US$36 billion in shares.

MacKenzie Bezos said she would give all of her stake in The Washington Post and the space exploration firm Blue Origin to her ex-husband -- the world's richest man -- as well as voting control of her remaining Amazon stock.

Jeff Bezos, 55, and MacKenzie, 48, a novelist, married in 1993 and have four children. Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in their Seattle garage in 1994 and turned it into a colossus that dominates online retail.

In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Amazon, which has a market capitalisation of some US$890 billion, said MacKenzie Bezos will control four percent of the company's outstanding common stock.

At Amazon's current share price that would be worth some US$35.6 billion.

According to Forbes magazine, the divorce settlement makes MacKenzie Bezos the third wealthiest woman in the world after L'Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers and Walmart's Alice Walton.

Jeff Bezos, who now owns 12 percent of Amazon, remains the world's richest man and the largest shareholder in the company with an estimated fortune of US$110 billion, Forbes said, ahead of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett.

Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos announced their separation in January and posted Twitter messages on Thursday revealing the divorce settlement.