Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his ex-wife Mackenzie Bezos arrive at the headquarters of publisher Axel-Springer where he will receive the Axel Springer Award 2018 on April 24, 2018 in Berlin – Photo: Jörg Carstensen / dpa / AFP
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his ex-wife Mackenzie Bezos arrive at the headquarters of publisher Axel-Springer where he will receive the Axel Springer Award 2018 on April 24, 2018 in Berlin – Photo: Jörg Carstensen / dpa / AFP
When you’re the richest man in the world, the prenup is going to sting if you get caught cheating. Jeff Bezos paid the ultimate price for being a very naughty boy and his former partner MacKenzie has scored a $35 billion settlement. Don’t feel too bad for the Amazon mogul, though – something tells us he won’t be losing much sleep.
The multi-billionaire is still worth $110bn according to Forbes, and he retains his status as the richest man in the world. Bill Gates is his nearest challenger, with a net worth of $99 billion.
MacKenzie Bezos net worth
MacKenzie Bezos’ divorce settlement is mainly in Amazon stock. Overnight, she’s been thrust into the highest echelons of wealth and opulence. Her status change is something else:
- MacKenzie Bezos is worth $35 billion, making her the 26th-richest person in the world.
- This is, quite comfortably, the most expensive divorce in history: Bill and Susan Gross reached a settlement of $1.3bn in 2018.
- She’s now the third richest woman in the world, behind L’Oreal’s Francoise Bettencourt Meyers ($52.9bn) and Walmart’s Alice Walton ($45bn).
- MacKenzie is also worth more than Phil Knight (Nike) and Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX).
Mackenzie Bezos vs South Africa’s top five billionaires
We are talking serious amounts of money, here. But how does this compare to the richest people in South Africa? Well, putting it lightly, MacKenzie Bezos wipes the floor them. She’s worth about five times more than SA’s richest man, Nicky Oppenheimer, and the rest of the field don’t have a chance.
- Nicky Oppenheimer (mining, diamonds): $7.3 billion
- Johann Rupert (luxury watches and investment): $5.3 billion
- Patrice Motsepe (mining, investment): $2.5 billion
- Koos Bekker (Naspers): $2.5 billion
- Michiel Le Roux (Capitec): $1.1 billion
- Total = $18.7 billion
- Percentage of Mackenzie Bezos’ net worth = 53.4%
Other billionaires with links to South Africa
Sadly, we can’t count Natie Kirsch or Elon Musk in this list. Their businesses are registered in the USA and they are full-on citizens of the states despite being born in Mzansi.
Kirsch has a personal fortune of $4.9 billion from the cash & carry and restaurant industries, whereas Musk has a cool $22 billion in the bank. MacKenzie Bezos is worth more than $8 billion of the pair’s combined wealth.
