The 1 word Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos kept repeating

To view this email in a browser, [click here](. INC. THIS MORNING The 1 word Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos kept repeating Good morning, Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos announced the terms of their divorce via two posts on Twitter yesterday. Both statements used a single word over and over: “grateful.” There’s no such thing as an easy divorce. Between the [spotlight]( the [tabloids]( and the fact that Jeff is running Amazon while MacKenzie played a significant role in its early development, this one threatened to be a real mess. It’s remarkable, then, that the two seem to have resolved their differences so quickly. MacKenzie will keep 25 percent of their Amazon holdings, which will work out to roughly $35 billion and make her the third-wealthiest woman in the world. Jeff will keep the other 75 percent, plus The Washington Post and Blue Origin. He’ll retain voting control over MacKenzie’s 25 percent. Their Twitter statements make it all seem a little more personal, less corporate. I retyped both statements to take a closer look at the structure, which made me realize that they’re the exact same length: 93 words each. And they both kept using the same words. - [MacKenzie]( “Grateful to have finished the process of dissolving my marriage with Jeff with support ... Grateful for the past as I look forward to what comes next.” - [Jeff]( “I’m so grateful to all my friends and family ... MacKenzie most of all. I’m grateful for her support and for her kindness in this process...” They also used the same phrase to describe their future relationship: “co-parents and friends,” MacKenzie called it. (Jeff reversed the order: “friends and co-parents.”) The statements are well-crafted. We’ve all heard that gratitude is the key to happiness, so it’s a striking image to create when talking about such a difficult situation. Who wouldn’t want to accentuate the positive, if possible, after 25 years of marriage and four children? Both Jeff and MacKenzie are great writers. Jeff’s annual Amazon letters are parsed by thousands; MacKenzie has written a couple of well-received novels. I’m almost surprised to have come to the conclusion that the wording of the statements--maybe even including the matching lengths--was part of their agreement. I looked up what happened in 2003, when former GE chairman Jack Welch and his second wife, Jane Beasley, settled their super-contentious divorce. “In a terse one-sentence statement, they said that they had settled their differences and were divorced,” The New York Times [reported at the time](. Welch “only” paid Beasely $180 million, so the stakes were comparatively puny. But I think we all probably prefer the way Jeff and MacKenzie handled it. HERE'S WHAT ELSE I'M READING TODAY: [Chinese counterfeiters are selling kids' products on on Amazon]( and they don't follow stringent U.S. safety regulations. --Inc. Google asked 5,600 employees about working remotely. [Here's what the company learned.]( --Fast Company Speaking of Google: Its controversial A.I. ethics board [lasted just over a week](. --Vox One woman created a [massive network of queer women in tech](. Can it become a go-to talent source for corporate America? --Inc. Ideo CEO Tim Brown, who helped popularize the term “design thinking,” [is stepping down](. --Fast Company Mark Zuckerberg says he's “confident,” but [can't guarantee that disinformation won't be on Facebook]( for the 2020 elections. --ABC News Meanwhile, a new report indicates that [Facebook is being used to sell child brides in Africa](. (A truly horrible story.) --The Daily Beast President Trump says he’ll [nominate former presidential candidate Herman Cain]( to the Federal Reserve. --The Wall Street Journal The coach of Notre Dame's women's basketball team [says that she's done hiring men](. --ThinkProgress --Bill Murphy Jr. Contributing Editor, Inc.com Story ideas and feedback actively solicited. Find me at [billmurphyjr@inc.com](mailto:billmurphyjr@inc.com?subject=), or on [LinkedIn]( [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Click here]( to forward to a friend. This email was sent by: Mansueto Ventures 7 World Trade Center, 29th Floor New York, NY, 10007, [Unsubscribe]( • [Update Profile]( • [View in Browser]( • [Forward to a Friend](