The prospect of a scorched-earth divorce battle between Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos may drastically change the balance of power within Amazon.
If the world’s richest soon-to-be-ex-couple can’t reach an amicable agreement, the question of how to divide the retail behemoth might be left to the discretion of a judge in Washington state, where the prevailing “community property” law is very different from the “equitable distribution” in places like New York.
Under the latter, a judge has discretion to consider circumstances in determining how property acquired during the marriage is split. Here, judges can consider the desirability of keeping business interests intact — and out of the hands of a divorcing spouse.
Washington’s law, however, says that assets acquired during marriage are equally owned. Therefore, MacKenzie Bezos is as much the world’s wealthiest woman as her husband is its richest man.
While Washington divorce judges have some discretion, recent precedent says that “in a long-term marriage of 25 years or more, the trial court’s objective is to place the parties in roughly equal financial positions for the rest of their lives.”
This makes it highly unlikely that Jeff Bezos will be able to retain the 16 percent of Amazon stock he owns because there are no other assets that would put MacKenzie in an equal position. The value of their five homes is of minimal value compared to the Amazon stock.
If MacKenzie gets half of that stock because it was all acquired during their 25-year marriage, she would have as much control of the company as Jeff. Taken a step further, she could form an alliance with another major shareholder and be the one calling the shots.
Just look at what happened to casino mogul Steve Wynn. When wife Elaine divorced him in 2010, they wrestled for control of Wynn Resorts stock. The fight ultimately led to a restructuring of the board largely under her control.
In short, MacKenzie is now holding all the cards.
Peter Bronstein is a prominent Manhattan divorce lawyer who has represented billionaire real estate magnate Harry Macklowe and filmmaker Guy Ritchie.