Winning Bizness Desk
Mumbai. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos married his longtime partner and former journalist Lauren Sanchez in a lavish ceremony on San Giorgio Maggiore Island in Venice, Italy. The wedding took place late Friday night and was marked by grand arrangements, elite guests, and heavy media interest. Lauren, 55, wore a custom white gown designed by Dolce & Gabbana, which reportedly took over a year and a half to create.
₹480 crore celebration with celebrity guests
The three-day wedding celebration is estimated to have cost between $46.5 million to $55.6 million (around ₹400–480 crore). About 200 VIPs attended the event, arriving in 90 private jets and 30 water taxis. The event featured high-end local vendors, including the 140-year-old pastry shop Rosa Salva and famed glassmakers Laguna B from Murano. Bezos and Sanchez also hosted a luxurious pre-wedding party on Thursday.
Billionaire guest list and exclusive gifts
Global celebrities and tech titans including Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kim and Khloé Kardashian, and singer Usher graced the celebration. Bezos gifted his male guests custom-made blue velvet Venetian slippers and women received Amazon’s black open-toe designer slippers. The guest list and scale of the event reflected the couple’s powerful status in global elite circles.
Local outrage and venue shift
The wedding venue was initially planned in Venice’s Cannaregio district but was moved to the Hall of the Arsenale after facing local backlash. Residents criticised the event as turning Venice into a “billionaire playground,” arguing that such extravagant parties distract from the city's real issues of overtourism and inflation. Despite the venue shift, concerns over the social impact of such events continued.
A second marriage for both Bezos and Sanchez
Bezos and Sanchez got engaged in August 2023 aboard Bezos’ luxury superyacht during a trip to Italy, where he proposed with a heart-shaped 20-carat diamond ring. The couple had already signed a multi-million-dollar prenuptial agreement and are believed to have completed a court marriage in the US. This is the second marriage for both. Bezos divorced his first wife MacKenzie Scott in 2019 after 25 years, with Scott receiving a $38 billion settlement. Sanchez also divorced her husband, Hollywood agent Patrick Whitesell, in the same year. Both have children from their previous marriages.
7 Summary Pointers:
- Jeff Bezos married Lauren Sanchez in a lavish Venice ceremony.
- The wedding cost an estimated ₹400–480 crore.
- 90 private jets and 30 water taxis brought in 200 VIP guests.
- Celebrity guests included Bill Gates, Oprah, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
- Venue changed due to local backlash over ‘billionaire excess’.
- The couple reportedly had a US court marriage with a prenup.
- This is Bezos’ second marriage after divorcing MacKenzie Scott in 2019.
