Jeff Bezos could lose title as world’s richest man with upcoming divorce

The world’s richest man Jeff Bezos is putting his coveted ‘wealthiest’ title in jeopardy, with the announcement that he is to divorce his wife of 25 years, MacKenzie Bezos. Twitter is shaken.

The 54-year-old owner of Amazon announced his divorce from the mother of his four children on Wednesday via a dramatic and surprisingly romantic joint statement posted to Twitter. “If we had known we would separate after 25 years, we would do it all again,” wrote Jeff.

Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post and rocket company Blue Origin, has an estimated net worth of $136.2 billion, according to Forbes. So, the news of his costly divorce sparked a slew of hilarious comebacks from Twitter users, who speculated over how the separation will impact the tycoon’s fortune.

According to the law in Washington State, where the couple reside, the spouses will have to equitably divide “community property” – including all income earned during their marriage.

“It seems very likely, if not 100% a certainty, that whatever Jeff Bezos has earned at Amazon has been community income,” David Starks, a partner at the Seattle-based law firm McKinley Irvin, told Forbes. It’s not known if the Bezos spouses had signed any prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, which would have an impact on how assets are divided.

If MacKenzie Bezos, 48, were to amass half of her husband’s fortune, she would be worth more than $68 billion – making her the fifth richest person in the world and undoubtedly consolidating her status as one part of the largest divorce settlement in history.

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