Be(zos) Prepared!

If any pre-marital couple ever questions whether they should enter into a pre-nuptial agreement, they can look no further than Jeff Bezos’s plight. That is, Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, who announced they are divorcing after 25 years of marriage, did not have a prenuptial agreement — meaning they will divide their gargantuan fortune equally. The two live in Washington State, a “community property” state, so they will split their assets 50-50. #waytogoMacKenzie

The problem is that, while Bezos is estimated to have a net worth of $137.1 billion — meaning that MacKenzie could walk away with $66 billion — Bezos would have to sell or pledge shares, which could dilute his ownership and control of the company. He reportedly owns just under 80 million shares, or just under 16 percent of Amazon, CNBC reported, citing regulatory filings.

The lesson learned is that, no matter ones couple’s net worth, be it $100,000 or $1,000,000 or $10,000,000 or $100,000,000 — or even $137.1 billion, because in the case of a divorce in most states the spouses split everything 50/50 and have to pay support going forward, a pre-nuptial agreement becomes necessary when the individuals walk into a marriage with inequitable amounts of money. Let the Bezos lesson be a lesson to all. Be(zos) prepared.