Will Jeff Bezos' $137 Billion Divorce Be the Most Expensive in History?

Jeff Bezos announced on Wednesday that he and his wife MacKenzie are divorcing after 25 years of marriage — and it may be one of the most expensive divorces ever, after Bezos was named the richest man in the world in June 2018.

In a tweet on Wednesday morning, the 54-year-old founder and CEO of Amazon, wrote a statement explaining the divorce, saying they’ve decided to continue their “shared lives as friends.”

“We feel incredibly lucky to have found each other and deeply grateful for every one of the years we have been married to each other. If we had known we would separate after 25 years, we would do it all again,” he said in the statement.

In 2018, Bezos bested Bill Gates on Forbes’ annual ranking of the world’s billionaires. Today, Bloomberg reports that Bezos’ net worth is now $137 billion, making him the richest person in the world.

Washington, where Bezos resides, is a community property state, which means that all assets and debts accrued during the marriage are considered owned equally by both spouses, unless there was a prenuptial agreement stating otherwise. It has not been made public whether the couple had a prenup.

If they did not have a prenup, MacKenzie would be entitled to half of Bezos’ $137 billion.

So, where will Bezos’ divorce rank on the list of most expensive divorces?

Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev’s split from his ex-wife made headlines as the largest divorce settlement in history after he was ordered by a Swiss court to pay up more than $4.5 billion.

New York socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein famously received an astounding $2.5 billion settlement when she divorced French art dealer Alec Wildenstein.

One of the largest Hollywood divorce payouts ever was between Mel Gibson and Robyn Moore, who finalized their divorce after nearly 30 years of marriage in 2011 and split half of his $850 million fortune, Moore’s settlement totaling $425 million.

Meanwhile, Steven Spielberg’s first marriage to actress Amy Irving lasted just four years, but produced one of the largest settlements in Hollywood history, reported at being as much as $100 million.

Basketball star Michael Jordan’s 2006 divorce with ex-wife of 17 years Juanita Jordan left her walking away with $168 million.

Musician Neil Diamond divorced from ex-wife Marcia Murphey in 1994. Murphey came out of the divorce with $150 million — half of his assets — according to a Forbes report.

Fellow musician Madonna reportedly paid actor Guy Ritchie between $76 million to $92 million during their 2008 split.

Another high-profile celebrity divorce was Harrison Ford’s split with ex-wife Melissa Mathison in 2004. The divorce came after 21 years of marriage and Mathison walked away with a large chunk of Ford’s earnings after their settlement — $85 million, according to Forbes.

Bezos was the first and only person to ever grace the Forbes annual ranking of billionaires with a 12-figure fortune to his name.

The tech giant founded internet behemoth Amazon in late 1994. In 2017, it was revealed that 64 precent of households in the United States are Amazon Prime subscribers, Forbes reported.