Billionaire Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott Files for Divorce From Second Husband

Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the former wife of Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, has filed for divorce from her second husband, according to court records.

Ms. Scott filed a petition for divorce from Dan Jewett in King County Superior Court in Washington state, according to a filing dated Monday. She had married Mr. Jewett, then a teacher at a private Seattle school, last year. She and Mr. Bezos divorced in 2019 after 25 years of marriage.

Mr. Jewett agreed to the divorce, according to court records. The couple already had a separation contract, which specifies how their debts and liabilities would be divided, the records said.

Ms. Scott and her lawyer, as well as Mr. Jewett and his lawyer, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on behalf of Mr. Bezos.

Ms. Scott has given away billions of her wealth since divorcing Mr. Bezos. In 2019, she joined the Giving Pledge, pledging to give away a large chunk of her wealth. Some of the organisations that received donations since Ms. Scott’s and Mr. Jewett’s marriage thanked both of them.

In a nine-month period, Ms. Scott donated $3.86 billion to 465 different organisations, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Ms. Scott has a net worth of $28.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, making her the 39th richest person in the world. That number has been falling as she has been donating much of her wealth. At one point in 2020, her net worth was as high as $67.4 billion, according to the index.

Both Ms. Scott and Mr. Jewett live in King County in Washington state, according to the divorce filing. The couple was married in the state of California.

Ms. Scott helped Mr. Bezos in founding Amazon. She owned a roughly 2.9% stake in Amazon as of February of this year, according to FactSet, but Mr. Bezos retained those shares’ voting rights.

She and Mr. Bezos have four children together.

Requiring more than 30 percent of household income to service a home loan has long been considered the benchmark for ‘housing stress’. Yet research shows it is becoming the new normal. The 2024 ANZ CoreLogic Housing Affordability Report reveals home loans on only 17 percent of homes are ‘serviceable’ if serviceability is limited to 30 percent of the median national household income.

Based on 40 percent of household income, just 37 percent of properties would be serviceable on a mortgage covering 80 percent of the purchase price. ANZ CoreLogic suggest 40 may be the new 30 when it comes to home loan serviceability. “Looking ahead, there is little prospect for the mortgage serviceability indicator to move back into the 30 percent range any time soon,” says the report.

“This is because the cash rate is not expected to be cut until late 2024, and home values have continued to rise, even amid relatively high interest rate settings.” ANZ CoreLogic estimate that home loan rates would have to fall to about 4.7 percent to bring serviceability under 40 percent.

CoreLogic has broken down the actual household income required to service a home loan on a 6.27 percent interest rate for an 80 percent loan based on current median house and unit values in each capital city. As expected, affordability is worst in the most expensive property market, Sydney.

Sydney

Sydney’s median house price is $1,414,229 and the median unit price is $839,344.

Based on 40 percent serviceability, households need a total income of $211,456 to afford a home loan for a house and $125,499 for a unit. The city’s actual median household income is $120,554.

Melbourne

Melbourne’s median house price is $935,049 and the median apartment price is $612,906.

Based on 40 percent serviceability, households need a total income of $139,809 to afford a home loan for a house and $91,642 for a unit. The city’s actual median household income is $110,324.

Brisbane

Brisbane’s median house price is $909,988 and the median unit price is $587,793.

Based on 40 percent serviceability, households need a total income of $136,062 to afford a home loan for a house and $87,887 for a unit. The city’s actual median household income is $107,243.

Adelaide

Adelaide’s median house price is $785,971 and the median apartment price is $504,799.

Based on 40 percent serviceability, households need a total income of $117,519 to afford a home loan for a house and $75,478 for a unit. The city’s actual median household income is $89,806.

Perth

Perth’s median house price is $735,276 and the median unit price is $495,360.

Based on 40 percent serviceability, households need a total income of $109,939 to afford a home loan for a house and $74,066 for a unit. The city’s actual median household income is $108,057.

Hobart

Hobart’s median house price is $692,951 and the median apartment price is $522,258.

Based on 40 percent serviceability, households need a total income of $103,610 to afford a home loan for a house and $78,088 for a unit. The city’s actual median household income is $89,515.

Darwin

Darwin’s median house price is $573,498 and the median unit price is $367,716.

Based on 40 percent serviceability, households need a total income of $85,750 to afford a home loan for a house and $54,981 for a unit. The city’s actual median household income is $126,193.

Canberra

Canberra’s median house price is $964,136 and the median apartment price is $585,057.

Based on 40 percent serviceability, households need a total income of $144,158 to afford a home loan for a house and $87,478 for a unit. The city’s actual median household income is $137,760.

Billionaire Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott Files for Divorce From Second Husband

The ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos married Dan Jewett last year

New research suggests spending 40 percent of household income on loan repayments is the new normal