Strange Things About Jeff Bezos' Marriage
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Amazon head honcho Jeff Bezos may not have been a billionaire immediately after he graduated from Princeton University, but one would think the budding businessman would've had a way with the ladies, right? Wrong! He described himself as a "professional dater" in an interview with Wired, while also admitting, "I'm not the kind of person where women say, 'Oh, look how great he is,' a half hour after meeting me. I'm kind of goofy." Thankfully, the love of his life didn't mind his goofiness, and it was his infectious laugh that won over author MacKenzie Bezos (née Tuttle). The two went out on a date and got married shortly thereafter...like, very shortly thereafter.
Four children later, and with Jeff sitting atop Forbes magazine's 2018 list of wealthiest Americans, this couple managed to remain humble. Like, hello, MacKenzie picked up and dropped off her kids in her Honda minivan. It doesn't get any more down-to-earth than that! However, as much as we admire this fascinating relationship, we can't ignore some of the weird things about Mr. and Mrs. Bezos, including the way they shockingly announced their divorce in 2019 after 25 years together! From Jeff's love for picking out his wife's clothing to McKenzie's scathing review in defense of her hubby, here are the strange things about Jeff Bezos' marriage to MacKenzie Bezos.
She did the chasing
Prior to becoming the man behind Amazon, Jeff Bezos was working in finance, climbing his way up to senior vice president of hedge fund firm D. E. Shaw, according to Wired. When he interviewed MacKenzie Tuttle for a research associate position at the company in the '90s, he had no idea she would become his wife someday. Jeff had already created his own personal plan to find a "resourceful" life partner, but MacKenzie had a plan of her own. "My office was next door to his, and all day long I listened to that fabulous laugh," she revealed to Vogue. "How could you not fall in love with that laugh?"
It was MacKenzie who initiated their first date, suggesting they grab some lunch, and Jeff soon realized she was just what he was looking for. Thankfully, she didn't have to chase him for long, and he knew he had to put a ring on it pronto. Still, it's not often that a woman is comfortable enough to make the first move, so MacKenzie deserves a load of high fives for taking a risk! What happened next can only be described as one of the quickest marriage proposals ever...
They raced to the altar
After MacKenzie Tuttle was hired on at D. E. Shaw, and she and Jeff Bezos became office neighbors at the hedge fund, the couple embarked on a whirlwind romance that went from 0 to 100 real quick. MacKenzie had already fallen in love with his boisterous laugh, and the love was requited when Jeff realized she was exactly what he was looking for in a life partner. He told Vogue, "I think my wife is resourceful, smart, brainy, and hot, but I had the good fortune of having seen her résumé before I met her, so I knew exactly what her SATs were."
With MacKenzie's winning combination of brains, beauty, and a favorable standardized test score to boot, their relationship moved almost as fast as a package delivered by Amazon Prime. They were engaged within just three months, and, three months after Jeff popped the question, the 29-year-old businessman and the 23-year-old research associate were married.
He drops everything for her
Jeff Bezos is an extremely busy man, even if he has made headlines for only meeting with investors for six hours per year. Listen, you don't pump up your net worth to $160 billion by slacking off! But even though he was crowned the wealthiest American in 2018 by Forbes magazine, Jeff never seemed short on time when it came to his darling wife.
Like her hubby, MacKenzie Bezos also attended Princeton University. She studied fiction under Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison, and with some top-notch training underneath her belt, she went on to pen two books, 2005's The Testing of Luther Albright and 2013's Traps. Guess who would drop everything just to give her feedback? Her husband, of course. "Jeff is my best reader," MacKenzie told Vogue, noting that he'd actually clears his entire schedule for the day just to read her manuscript in one sitting. He reportedly provided her with "meticulous notes" as well!
Though it's strange he can brush off his entire day just to read her books, we guess it's the least he can do, considering she dropped everything following their wedding to move from New York to Seattle after he got the great idea to sell books over the internet — an idea that is now known as the online commerce giant Amazon.
Mr. Fashionisto
As she zips around town in her Honda minivan, MacKenzie Bezos can be spotted wearing her standard, unfussy uniform, which Vogue described as just jeans and a T-shirt. When it comes time to spice up her wardrobe, she remains as hands-off as ever. No, she doesn't have a dedicated personal stylist who scoops up hot pieces for her. Instead, it was her bae, Jeff Bezos, who did most of her shopping. Vogue magazine revealed that even the Diane von Furstenberg handbag MacKenzie was carrying during her interview with the fashion magazine was a bag Jeff had personally picked out for her. Aww. Adorbs.
"I pay attention to what she likes to wear, and you'd be amazed by how often things work," Jeff said in regards to buying his wife's clothes. "Sometimes I call her and say, 'What's your such-and-such size?' and she says, 'Why?' and I say, 'None of your business!' It delights her." That's cute and all, but we never would've guessed Jeff had such a keen eye for women's fashion!
Bustin' suds for love
Jeff Bezos has his hands full. He's the founder of Amazon and has acquired other companies, including The Washington Post in 2013 and Whole Foods in 2017, but he still made time to let the object of his affection know just how much she means to him. After tying the knot in 1993, Jeff quickly figured out the way to win over MacKenzie Bezos' heart.
Not only did he buy her surprise clothing purchases when the mood hit him, he also flexed his skills as a domestic god. "I do the dishes every night," Jeff told Business Insider CEO Henry Blodget (via Recode). "I'm pretty convinced it's the sexiest thing I do." When we think of sexy, scrubbing dirty dishes isn't the first thing that comes to mind, but something tells us Jeff and his bulging biceps can make any household chore look good!
Don't mess with her man
When journalist Brad Stone released the biography, The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon, he quickly realized that one reader was not a fan of his work. MacKenzie Bezos left Stone a scathing one-star review of the book ... on Amazon's website, of all places. Her diatribe called the biography a "lopsided and misleading portrait of the people and culture at Amazon." She also slammed the book for what she called "inaccuracies." According to MacKenzie, "I worked with [Jeff] and many others represented in the converted garage, the basement warehouse closet, the barbecue-scented offices, the Christmas-rush distribution centers, and the door-desk filled conference rooms in the early years of Amazon's history..."
For what it's worth, Stone told The New York Times that he interviewed 300 former and current Amazon employees to compile the accounts in the book, and he said most readers — sans MacKenzie — were actually "inspired by Amazon's story." There may have been a better way for MacKenzie to air her grievances and dirt instead of plastering them on a public platform, but we have to give her props for standing up for her boo.
Shocking the world with divorce news
In a surprising turn of events, news broke in January 2019 that Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, were ending their marriage. In a joint statement posted to the Amazon founder's Twitter on Jan. 9, the couple revealed that it went through a "long period of exploration and trial separation" before choosing to divorce. "We feel incredibly lucky to have found each other and deeply grateful for every one of the years we have been married to each other," the statement said. Though their 25-year marriage has gone kaput, the parents of four regret nothing. "If we had known we would separate after 25 years, we would do it all again," they wrote.
In some high-profile marriages, there are hints that things are going sour before the couple announces a breakup, but with Jeff and MacKenzie, things appeared to be hunky-dory as recently as September 2018, when they banded together to give $2 billion to The Bezos Day One Fund. The money was awarded to two charities: one for homeless families and another that creates "high-quality preschools in underserved communities," reported USA Today. That doesn't sound like something a couple on the brink of divorce would do as a unit, but hey, stranger things have happened.
We here at Nicki Swift wish them the best, but we're really interested to see how their billion dollar fortune gets divvied up in the divorce.