MacKenzie Bezos now the world's third-richest woman after $36bn divorce settlement with Amazon founder

MacKenzie Bezos, the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, is now the world's fourth-richest woman after agreeing a $36bn divorce settlement with the Amazon founder. Mr Bezos remains the world's richest man and retains voting power in his business following the divorce, which now leaves him with 75 per cent of the company's stock. The settlement - the largest in history - leaves Ms Bezos, a novelist, the world's third wealthiest woman behind L'Oreal heiress Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers and Walmart's Alice Walton. The couple did not disclose other financial details of the divorce, but Ms Bezos has said she's given up her stakes in the Washington Post as well as in Blue Origin, the space exploration firm owned by her ex-husband. Ms Bezos acquired four per cent of Amazon's stock, leaving her in ownership of a quarter of the company's shares. Amazon is the world's most valuable company with an estimated market capitalisation of $890bn. The company started by Mr Bezos in 1994 has interests in e-commerce, publishing, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and lately space. The couple announced their divorce settlement separately on Twitter. Mr Bezos tweeted on Friday that their divorce had been amicable and commended his ex-wife for being an "extraordinary partner, ally and mother".

MacKenzie Bezos now the world's third-richest woman after $36bn divorce settlement with Amazon founder

Jeff Bezos remains the world's richest man and retains voting power on his stake in Amazon