Most Helpful

Agreed, there's truth to the "family unit" argument. In this case, I don't buy she generated $80bl of the fortune, but in the case of two working professionals each making roughly $200k a year with the wife leaving her trajectory to raise two kids for 5-10 years, she has every right to half the family's worth if a divorce occurs.

 

For the sake of argument, two ways to look at this that justify the astronomical payout for his wife: 1) What did each partner contribute to the family's wealth? Cav21x describes this well above. To the extent his wife sacrificed her own career/earnings/stability to support Jeff, it makes sense that she would participate in the upside after divorce. 2) Marriage is a contract with default provisions on what to do with the assets upon dissolution. Most people don't consider that because Romance, but if anyone was capable of understanding, it was Bezos. If he didn't want to share the upside of entrepreneurship with his wife, he shouldn't have gotten married.

 

This. It really only makes sense. How do we know she would not have become the richest person in the world if Jeff stayed home with the kids? (I know that is a stretch, but the main idea is that you cannot put a number on opportunity cost, so 50/50 is the only way to do it). If you married up and your spouse makes more than you could ever have dreamed of, that is what the spouse paying gets for marrying down. Plus, it sounds like Jeff was cheating, so he does not have a leg to stand on in the argument, if she was pushing for the divorce after she had cheated on Jeff for 20 years, that is another story, but it sounds like he screwed this up. If the spouse is truly a selfish sloth, the 50/50 thing sucks, but for 95% of cases, it makes sense.

 

Agreed 110%.. Amazon was Jeff Bezos' invention and is the sole reason for his net worth. His wife did not have a trajectory that would have netted her close to $70 billion. After all, at DE Shaw, she worked under Jeff........ How can anyone say she could've made 70 billion on her own when even DE Shaw himself is worth like 6.2 billion...

thots & prayers
 
2and20:
Agreed 110%.. Amazon was Jeff Bezos' invention and is the sole reason for his net worth. His wife did not have a trajectory that would have netted her close to $70 billion. After all, at DE Shaw, she worked under Jeff........ How can anyone say she could've made 70 billion on her own when even DE Shaw himself is worth like 6.2 billion...

How can you say she wouldn't have?

More importantly, you have no idea what goes on behind closed doors in their home. Who knows if one night 25 years ago it was Mrs. Bezos who said "maybe you should sell something other than books?" You are assuming that it must have been Jeff Bezos behind every decision. That the quality of his home life, which she provides 100% of the value on, has nothing to do with his effectiveness as a businessman.

And again, he knew all this going in, so I'm not sure why it's a question of "deserves" or not. As far as any of us should be concerned, it's a question of contractual obligation. The marriage is the contract and 50% of the marital assets is the poison pill for dissolving it. She deserves that as much as any junior partner deserves their payout when screwed (or not, in this case) by their partner.

 

AFAIK they are splitting family wealth. She would not get 50% of Jeff's Amazon shares and therefore also a controlling interest in the company.

And it may be BS for PR reasons but it seams like an amicable divorce, they posted a picture saying something along the lines of "If we knew our journey together would end in 25 years when we first met, we'd do it all again in a heartbeat".

At the end of the day, assuming she doesn't just get re-married / blow the cash... odds are it will mostly stay in the family / go to the kids either way, and it's not like an ex hedge fund employee is going to squander 70BB

 

50% makes no sense in this case whatsoever.... Bezos was the sole mastermind behind Amazon. Don't @ me for this. Does she deserve some sort of compensation? yes, but not close to $70 billion. Keep in mind she has a degree in english. No way that while she was doing BO/MO type work under Bezos at DE Shaw, she had a close to 70 billion career trajectory. Even if she gets $1B, its still not fair as she had 0 shot at making that kind of money.

thots & prayers
 

It's really hard to find a wife that's willing to take put everything aside and be genuinely supportive of what you do when you're an "all in yolo" entrepreneur like Bezos. It makes a big difference when you know you can rely on someone to deal with family stuff while you're working on your company. A lot of the entrepreneurship game is mental shit eating.

Food for thought, idk.

 

Fair point. Still $70B is a heck of a lot of money for moral/family support.... It would be more fair to see what a person with an english degree working a BO/MO type role at DE Shaw makes in a lifetime, and use that as a baseline to compensate her. The whole point here is that she gave up everything she could've done on her own to support Jeff. So they should just calculate what someone with her credentials and her career trajectory makes and that should be the settlement. It shouldn't be more than a couple million dollars.

thots & prayers
 
ResearchLackey19:
Bezos got divorced. Apparently his wife has the right to half his assets. Would like to hear some opinions on this.

His wife was with him before he was rich, so no. She's basically his "partner in crime" (to quote every terrible Match.com profile). Bezos' mistake was to get married in the first place.

Array
 

I love that Bezos posted a twitter message that makes them look like neither is human.

Never discuss with idiots, first they drag you at their level, then they beat you with experience.
 

A lot of misconception around what a prenup does.

It protects someone's assets prior to marriage. Any assets created, generated etc after the marriage are not protected.

In the UK a prenup isn't even legally binding its seen more as an indication which especially after a long term marriage is easily invalidated.

 
TradeGreek:
A lot of misconception around what a prenup does.

It protects someone's assets prior to marriage. Any assets created, generated etc after the marriage are not protected.

In the UK a prenup isn't even legally binding its seen more as an indication which especially after a long term marriage is easily invalidated.

Unless we are talking about the Massey prenup......

Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.
 

Important point here. His next wife certainly won't be eligible for the payout his first wife will get.

It is interesting to think about how premarital income potential can't really be protected by a prenup. As far as I understand, a Doctor who just finished paying off his med school loans can't do anything to protect the time investment made before the marriage. He and a Starbucks barista both bring the same "assets" to the marriage, and his income is then treated as part of the marriage.

 
ResearchLackey19:
Update: Bezos cheated on his wife with her friend.

Did he cheat? I also read that after both he and he wife and their family friends both separated he got together with his friend's wife.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

I can't understand what it's like to be 48, a woman and mother, divorcing a fucking gazillionaire. You telling me she really got options like that? LMAO. There must be a ton of hot 22 year old, ripped pool boys to fish around her pond to make this worthwhile. Got damn, to be 48 and a divorcee to a billionaire. Life must be good.

 

At the end of they day, you can't base divorce law on how it affects the richest man in the world (or other rich dudes- Jack Welch, Steve Winn, Tiger, Trump). A lot of divorce law is dumb, mainly because it's old and outdated. However, the law has to protect everyone, and better to screw the rich than the poor (though usually it's the other way). You have to realize that there are couples in middle America, where the wife literally has no skills, three kids and lives in the standard ~1960s family set up (husband works, wife is a housewife). When this couple gets divorced, can't just throw the mom to the curb because the husband makes all the money.

Divorce law can get dumb and crazy though. I remember in NJ a couple of years ago, a guy had to go to jail because he couldn't pay his alimony/child support. Problem was, his payments were based on an average of the prior ~4 years of income, an income level he was no longer at. Guy has to pay like $100 grand all, yet grossed like $90 grand.

 

Et et et amet voluptas omnis. Animi ex odit dolor animi consequatur veritatis sequi. Qui iste tempora quibusdam aperiam necessitatibus. Dolores impedit dolor accusamus culpa et provident. Dolor quod id dolor non iste et in quidem. Dolores quam quia facere quia aut ut. Ab omnis quibusdam sunt porro voluptatum eveniet distinctio.

Never discuss with idiots, first they drag you at their level, then they beat you with experience.
 

Nisi veniam iste vitae omnis voluptas ex et sed. Illum sed fugiat porro ex. Quia qui tempora est illum explicabo quisquam libero.

Fugit facere est animi laborum dolor quis. Alias qui praesentium qui libero nihil odio voluptas.

Quia at eius est quidem. Occaecati sit nam et distinctio ullam accusantium optio laborum. At reprehenderit placeat repellat. Corrupti inventore consequuntur quo in dolorem. Modi rerum assumenda blanditiis laboriosam odio occaecati architecto. Doloremque labore voluptatem rerum ipsam est cumque. Voluptas officia itaque magnam officia ad.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (85) $262
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (65) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (198) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”