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Political
What Jeff And MacKenzie Bezos' Divorce Could Mean For Amazon
House Approves Backpay For Federal Workers After Shutdown Ends
Federal workers protest against the government shutdown. Photo: Mark Wilson via Getty Images
The House voted to approve backpay for federal workers af- fected by the government shut- down 411-7, a day after the Senate unanimously passed the same resolution.
The big picture: Seven Re-
publicans voted against the bill. It will now go to President Trump, who told Mitch Mc- Connell Thursday that he would sign the bill to assure government workers will ulti- mately be compensated.
New York - Shortly after they were married, MacKenzie Bezos drove her husband, Jeff, across the country from New York to Seattle while he typed out a business plan for what would be- come Amazon.
Now, twenty-five years later, MacKenzie Bezos could once again find herself in the dri- ver's seat, this time with the potential to rattle her husband's control over the world's most valuable company.
The world's richest couple announced in a joint statement Wednesday that they are getting a divorce "after a long period of loving explo- ration and trial separation."
The divorce could drastically reduce Jeff Bezos' stake in Amazon and open the door for his wife to become one of its largest shareholders, with new leverage at the company, according to divorce lawyers and corporate governance ex- perts.
Washington, where the family lives and Ama- zon is based, is a community property state, which means assets accrued during the marriage must be split equally in a divorce. Given that Amazon launched after the pair were married, this rule would likely apply to virtually all of Jeff Bezos' current $137 billion net worth, experts say.
It is not known whether the couple has a pre- or post-nuptial agreement. It's also unclear whether they might file for divorce in a different state. They own properties in California, Texas
Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos are getting divorced after 25 years of marriage.
and Washington D.C., among other locations. Assuming there is no prior agreement in place, the Amazon CEO may need to either sell off or transfer half of his more than 16% stake in the company to fulfill an equal split for the divorce,
lawyers say.
MacKenzie Bezos could then try to use her
large stake in Amazon to push for changes at the company, potentially in opposition to her ex-hus- band. But it's unlikely this would lead to actual corporate change.
"It's only 8% of the stock," said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush, "...not enough to actually exert any control."
But that assumes MacKenzie Bezos is look- ing for a fight. Hirsch told CNN that MacKen- zie Bezos' legal counsel will almost certainly advise her that attempting to exercise control at Amazon not only risks creating a public spectacle, but also could undermine the value of her own holdings by interfering with business operations.
Senator Stacey Abrams Met With Top Democrats To Discuss Potential 2020 Bid
Former US President Barack Obama stands with Georgia Democratic Gu- bernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams during a campaign rally (Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)
Stacey Abrams, whose failed campaign for Georgia governor captivated the nation, has been mulling over her next move and it could be a run at the United States Senate in 2020.
Abrams met with leading Senate Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Cortez Masto, who heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Thursday in Washington. The meeting, according to the Atlanta Journal-Con- stitution, was to discuss a potential 2020 challenge to Republican Sen. David Perdue, a prominent ally of Donald Trump.
Abrams, who came up short in a contentious governor’s race against Brian Kemp, said during an interview on Atlanta NPR af- filiateWABE on Monday that she has given herself until the end of March to decide whether to run against Perdue or prepare for an- other run against Kemp.
Abrams came within 18,000 votes of forcing a runoff election in the Governor’s race, which was marred by allegations and con- flicts of interest involving Kemp – who as the then-Secretary of State, was in charge of his own election. She laid out a set of criteria of what would drive her to run.
“One, I need to run for office because I’m the best person for the job, not simply because there’s a job that’s open,” Abrams said to Closer Look host Rose Scott. “No. 2, I need to run because I have ideas and the capacity to win the election and do the job well.
“And No. 3, I need to make decisions not based on animus or bit- terness or sadness, but really based in a pragmatism that says, ‘This is the right thing to do,’” she added. Since ending her campaign, where she never officially conceded, Abrams launched the Fair Fight Action voting rights group, which then filed a lawsuit challeng- ing Georgia’s electoral policy.
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