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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, wife MacKenzie divorcing after 25 years of marriage

SEATTLE — Amazon founder, president and CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, announced they are divorcing after a period of trial separation. They were married for 25 years.

Bloomberg reported that Jeff Bezos tweeted a statement about the news Wednesday morning. It was signed by the couple.

“We want to make people aware of a development in our lives. As our family and close friends know, after a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends,” the statement said. “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. If we had known we would separate after 25 years, we would do it all again.

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“We’ve had such a great life together as a married couple, and we also see wonderful futures ahead, as parents, friends, partners in ventures and projects, and as individuals pursuing ventures and adventures. Though the labels might be different, we remain a family, and we remain cherished friends.”

CNBC reported that, according to the statement, it appears the couple will continue working together professionally. They launched a $2 billion Day One Fund in September. The fund was created to help homeless families and create preschools.

According to a 2013 Vogue profile, MacKenzie Bezos, now a 48-year-old novelist, met Jeff Bezos, now 54, when she interviewed for a job at a New York hedge fund. She asked him out to lunch and they got engaged after three months of dating. They were married three months later. Once married, Jeff Bezos brought his idea of an online bookstore to her. She supported the idea, and they moved from New York to Seattle so Jeff Bezos could found Amazon.

The couple has four children together.