UPDATE 1-Jeff Bezos' ex-wife cedes control of Amazon in divorce deal

MacKenzie Bezos, ex-wife of Amazon.com Inc founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, will give 75 percent of their stake in the company and all voting rights to the billionaire entrepreneur. MacKenzie Bezos will also relinquish all her interests in the Washington Post newspaper and rocket company Blue Origin, she said in a tweet https://twitter.com/mackenziebezos/status/1113851260040503296 on Thursday.

The announcement resolves questions about the direction of the world's largest online retailer that have abounded since the couple announced their divorce in January. Jeff Bezos, widely viewed as a management guru whose long-term focus has been essential to Amazon's meteoric stock rise, will retain company control. The settlement also suggests that Amazon will be spared the kind of boardroom battle that has plagued other companies whose owners are dealing with family rifts.

"Happy to be giving him all of my interests in the Washington Post and Blue Origin, and 75 percent of our Amazon stock," MacKenzie Bezos said in the tweet. Her remaining stake is worth about $36 billion at current market prices. The couple's total stake of $143 billion had made them the richest in the world.

"Grateful to have finished the process of dissolving my marriage with Jeff with support from each other and everyone who reached out to us in kindness, and looking forward to next phase as co-parents and friends," MacKenzie Bezos wrote. (Reporting by Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Nick Zieminski)