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It's a bit TMZ to have this on HN, but the big tech question is what ownership stake does the ex-wife have on Amazon? Assuming they didn't have a pre-nup, does

It's a bit TMZ to have this on HN, but the big tech question is what ownership stake does the ex-wife have on Amazon? Assuming they didn't have a pre-nup, does she get 50% of his stake in Amazon? Does she get a board seat? That could have deep implications for Amazon if for example she decides to sell that ownership stake and dilutes Jeff Bezos' control.

mrep 8y ago
I was wondering that too, but then I realized that would only have a big effect if stockholders thought he was doing a bad job and I bet most everyone doesn't think that.
- docker_up 8y ago
  Not sure I follow. If his ownership stake is cut in half, and the ex-wife owns half of Bezos' stake in Amazon, that effectively cuts his power in half. Sure, right now they are likely on the same page, but what about in 5 years? What if she starts selling her stake or sells her decision-making stake to an activist hedge fund, for example, or someone directly adversarial to Bezos? It could make things a lot harder for him to lead the company.
ltc5505 8y ago
I think the opinion that the title is quite "gossipy" for HN is shared with a good portion of the community. I was entirely ready to just disregard the post after skimming the comments, but your point about splitting of assets is a great topic for discussion. What has happened historically when an executive gets divorced? Is this is the first high-profile tech company executive divorce?
sorenjan 8y ago
If that's how the system works, isn't that an incentive for the partner, the wife in this case, to divorce their spouse to get increased control? I don't know how much control she has at the moment being married to the person that actually owns the stocks, but if she gets 50% in a divorce that sounds like a financial jackpot. That's akin to state sponsored theft IMO.
- bradenb 8y ago
  > I don't know how much control she has at the moment being married to the person that actually owns the stocks, but if she gets 50% in a divorce that sounds like a financial jackpot. That's akin to state sponsored theft IMO. I don't understand this comment. Marriage is not a social convention, it's a legal contract. Saying that she won a jackpot or somehow did something devious shows a huge level of misunderstanding.
  - sorenjan 8y ago
    My point is that if she stays married she has no control over the company, if she divorces and gets 50% of her husband's stocks she gets a lot of control. Close to $50 billion last time I checked. That's a legal contract that makes no sense, why would anyone stay married if they could gain $x billion from a divorce?
    - bradenb 8y ago
      From my perspective, his wife was there to help enable the creation of Amazon. Jeff Bezos entered a contract when he got married where he believed an equal division of assets made sense. He apparently believed that contract made sense for 25 years. Who are we to say now that she shouldn't be entitled to half? > why would anyone stay married if they could gain $x billion from a divorce? Why not? Two people share a pool of $50b (obviously it's not _that_ simple). Seems like plenty to me. Divorce means you are 1 person with your own $25b pool. Unless she was somehow prevented from using the shared pool of money I'm not seeing a huge benefit here. If her goals with money were so drastically different than that of her husband's then I think that's as valid a reason for divorce as any: diverging goals and interests.
      - sorenjan 8y ago
        > From my perspective, his wife was there to help enable the creation of Amazon. I don't know what she did or didn't do, so I don't want to discuss this case specifically. But the idea that your wife or husband contributes half of your work is not something I agree with. I understand that if one of them spent their whole married life prioritizing their home and family instead of their career so the other one could focus on theirs it makes sense to divide the assets using other metrics than who payed for it. But there have to be a limit, someone spending their days at home or out shopping is not worth millions or billions of their partner's money. After all, choosing to not focus on your own career is your choice. Do you feel the same about negative things married people create? Should spouses share prison sentences if one of them commit crimes, like financial scams? If he would have been heavily in debt, should she share that too? > diverging goals and interests. I agree that's a valid reason for divorce. I don't agree that she should be entitled to 50% of his property (or that he should get 50% of hers, but it's a bit unequal in this situation).
hn_throwaway_99 8y ago
This article is currently flagged, but I hope it gets "unflagged". Washington State is a community property state, which would normally mean all of Bezos' Amazon shares are owned equally by the both of them. I'm not a lawyer, but would be a good discussion to understand how the assets of the largest shareholder of America's largest (or 2nd largest) company will be split.

mrep 8y ago

I was wondering that too, but then I realized that would only have a big effect if stockholders thought he was doing a bad job and I bet most everyone doesn't think that.

docker_up 8y ago
Not sure I follow. If his ownership stake is cut in half, and the ex-wife owns half of Bezos' stake in Amazon, that effectively cuts his power in half. Sure, right now they are likely on the same page, but what about in 5 years? What if she starts selling her stake or sells her decision-making stake to an activist hedge fund, for example, or someone directly adversarial to Bezos? It could make things a lot harder for him to lead the company.

ltc5505 8y ago

I think the opinion that the title is quite "gossipy" for HN is shared with a good portion of the community. I was entirely ready to just disregard the post after skimming the comments, but your point about splitting of assets is a great topic for discussion. What has happened historically when an executive gets divorced? Is this is the first high-profile tech company executive divorce?

sorenjan 8y ago

If that's how the system works, isn't that an incentive for the partner, the wife in this case, to divorce their spouse to get increased control? I don't know how much control she has at the moment being married to the person that actually owns the stocks, but if she gets 50% in a divorce that sounds like a financial jackpot. That's akin to state sponsored theft IMO.

bradenb 8y ago
> I don't know how much control she has at the moment being married to the person that actually owns the stocks, but if she gets 50% in a divorce that sounds like a financial jackpot. That's akin to state sponsored theft IMO. I don't understand this comment. Marriage is not a social convention, it's a legal contract. Saying that she won a jackpot or somehow did something devious shows a huge level of misunderstanding.
- sorenjan 8y ago
  My point is that if she stays married she has no control over the company, if she divorces and gets 50% of her husband's stocks she gets a lot of control. Close to $50 billion last time I checked. That's a legal contract that makes no sense, why would anyone stay married if they could gain $x billion from a divorce?
  - bradenb 8y ago
    From my perspective, his wife was there to help enable the creation of Amazon. Jeff Bezos entered a contract when he got married where he believed an equal division of assets made sense. He apparently believed that contract made sense for 25 years. Who are we to say now that she shouldn't be entitled to half? > why would anyone stay married if they could gain $x billion from a divorce? Why not? Two people share a pool of $50b (obviously it's not _that_ simple). Seems like plenty to me. Divorce means you are 1 person with your own $25b pool. Unless she was somehow prevented from using the shared pool of money I'm not seeing a huge benefit here. If her goals with money were so drastically different than that of her husband's then I think that's as valid a reason for divorce as any: diverging goals and interests.
    - sorenjan 8y ago
      > From my perspective, his wife was there to help enable the creation of Amazon. I don't know what she did or didn't do, so I don't want to discuss this case specifically. But the idea that your wife or husband contributes half of your work is not something I agree with. I understand that if one of them spent their whole married life prioritizing their home and family instead of their career so the other one could focus on theirs it makes sense to divide the assets using other metrics than who payed for it. But there have to be a limit, someone spending their days at home or out shopping is not worth millions or billions of their partner's money. After all, choosing to not focus on your own career is your choice. Do you feel the same about negative things married people create? Should spouses share prison sentences if one of them commit crimes, like financial scams? If he would have been heavily in debt, should she share that too? > diverging goals and interests. I agree that's a valid reason for divorce. I don't agree that she should be entitled to 50% of his property (or that he should get 50% of hers, but it's a bit unequal in this situation).

hn_throwaway_99 8y ago

This article is currently flagged, but I hope it gets "unflagged". Washington State is a community property state, which would normally mean all of Bezos' Amazon shares are owned equally by the both of them. I'm not a lawyer, but would be a good discussion to understand how the assets of the largest shareholder of America's largest (or 2nd largest) company will be split.