MacKenzie Scott Gave Bezos 75% of Joint Amazon Stock in 2019 Divorce

Scott posted the same day. "Grateful to have finished the process of dissolving my marriage with Jeff with support from each other," she wrote.

She said she was "looking forward to [the] next phase as co-parents and friends."

Bezos still walked away with more equity. Scott was not left short, though. Her Amazon stake was worth around $36 billion at the time, enough to make her the third wealthiest woman in the world at one point.

Why Washington law matters

The couple lived in Seattle, Washington, while married. Washington is a community property state, so anything a couple gains after marriage belongs to both partners.

Bezos started Amazon in 1994, a year after the wedding. He founded Blue Origin in 2000 and bought the Washington Post in 2013. All three qualify as community property under that rule.

Bezos has said Scott was important to his success. He recalled telling her he wanted to quit his job, move across the country and start an internet bookstore. "Even before she could say, 'What's the internet?' she said, 'Great — let's go!'" he said in 2018.

In a contested divorce, Washington judges aim for a "just and equitable distribution" of community property. That can mean an equal split, but it does not have to. A judge may give one spouse 55% and the other 45%.

An even split does not mean every asset is halved. Judges balance overall value. One partner might get a $500,000 house and the other a $100,000 boat, with savings and stocks used to close the gap.

What is still unknown

The full terms of the Bezos-Scott agreement have not been made public. Scott could have kept most of the real estate the couple owned together, for example.

The couple had no prenuptial agreement. They could have signed a postnuptial one after Amazon took off, but no such arrangement has been disclosed.