MacKenzie Bezos Played An Important Role In The Amazon's Founding And Bezos' $137 Billion Fortune

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos just announced that he and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, is going to part away, ending their 25-year marriage.

Jeff Bezos and his wife decided to end their 25-year marriage

This announcement has raised the discussion on the role of MacKenzie Bezos in the early years of Amazon. She was among the first employees of Amazon and played an important role in helping Bezos getting his $137.1 billion fortune.

The two first met back in 1992 in which the couple was working at D.E. Shaw, a hedge fund based in New York. While Bezos managed to get to senior VC at the company, his wife was a research associate at the time.

They married one year later, and in 1994, he shared his plan for opening an online bookstore with his wife.

In 1994, the Amazon founder was working on a business plan for the company on his laptop and also contacting prospective investors while he and his wife were driving from New York City to Seattle.

Jeff and MacKenzie in Sun Valley, Idaho on 12 July 2003

McKenzie took the role as an accountant for the company, and she was also among the earliest employees of Amazon. She was reportedly responsible for negotiating the first freight contracts of Amazon at a Barnes & Noble bookstore.

She is currently a novelist and executive director of the anti-bullying organization Bystander Revolution which she founded in 2014.

In Bezos’ announcement on Twitter on Wednesday, Jeff said that they have both agreed to end their marriage and continue their shared lives as friends.