Jeff Bezos' ex-wife cedes control of Amazon in divorce deal | Hacker News Reader

Jeff Bezos' ex-wife cedes control of Amazon in divorce deal

reuters.com

24 pointspseudolus12 comments

I know them being the richest couple in the world with a publicly traded company makes this a special case, but I can't help feeling a little strange seeing the details of one's personal affairs broadcast in such an enterprise-y, "update to the people" manner. It feels just as fake as any other "letter from the CEO" I used to read at a fortune 50.

This pertains to their ownership stake in a very large, very public company that has impacted the lives (and often livelihoods) of almost everybody in the US, for better or worse.

I don't see what's wrong here. All the articles reprinting the salacious texts he sent to his girlfriend? That's another story.

Having that much money and that much control over many thousands of people's livelihoods comes with certain responsibilities. It's in the public interest that we know stability is kept. I think it's a big disingenuous to expect to wield so many resources and not be under a certain amount of scrutiny.

The outcome of the divorce settlement is absolutely worthy of being public record in this case. The uncertainty surrounding the future for Amazon would look very different had she received 50% of their stake in Amazon and 50% of voting rights.

I can't help but feel a little annoyed seeing the details of one's personal affairs broadcast on the front page of HN multiple times. This crap is for TMZ to cover.

I feel the same. I think this is pretty relevant news for both markets and tech enthusiasts, but there's something really gross about airing the Bezos' private matters. I know I value my privacy very highly, and I can imagine that would only increase more if I somehow became wealthy. At least right now nobody gives a crap about what happens in my private life :-) I can't even imagine being somebody like Jeff.

Because he's part of America's royalty.

Something is terribly wrong when you can slash $30 billion from a person’s net worth in a single day, and they are still the world’s richest person.

In Amazon’s case it implies monopolistic margins and anti-competitive exploitation of marketplace dynamics, coupled with dramatically undercompensating employees for the value they have created in Amazon.

The economy is not a zero-sum game. If you look at the amount of value created by Amazon, it vastly surpasses that 30 billion.

Amazon has driven down the price of goods substantially and made a huge variety of products available worldwide. That is of significant value to society, the price-pressure alone benefits all consumers, especially those with low incomes.

There are also significant competitors both nationally and internationally (Walmart & Alibaba) to name a few.

Lower prices on Amazon don't happen just because. Somebody didn't earn those money that they'd otherwise do.

In the end, it's the same society that earned less. Majority of consumers are providers at the same time. Aside from pensioners and ids.

That's not necessarily true. Amazon may provide cheaper distribution/shipping thereby reducing the end-user price even though the supplier is paid the same.

Amazon is also increasing the overall reach of each supplier thereby increasing demand and sales volume.

It also opens up new arbitrage opportunities. For some people, the convenience of Amazon is worth paying a higher price for certain items. Due to those consumers, sellers like this can make substantial profit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzrtdUCsYTQ

The behavior shown in the video is a great example of the 'pie' actually expanding. The arbitrage seller is creating demand at Walmart and other local businesses, Amazon is making some profit, and the end-buyer is also better off since they gained the convenience which they likely value > the original price + arbitrage margin.

Outside of AWS, Amazon margins are very slim. The reason Bezos is worth so much is investor's faith in the future. If you ask me, Amazon stock is stupidly expensive on a F P/E basis. He likely won't always be the world's richest man. I still think Gates and Buffet will eventually win out. So many people measure wealth on equity value, which I kind of find silly because Buffet, Gates, or Bezos could never unload their entire equity stake without flooding the market with supply.

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