How Jeff Bezos wooed TV star Lauren Sanchez with invite to Mars conference and tour of Washington Post offices
Jeff Bezos isn't exactly known for living in private. The Amazon founder and billionaire lives a very public life and that includes his marriage, divorce and reported affair as well. Even while he was married to author and ex-wife MacKenzie Scott, Bezos was frequently spotted with TV star Lauren Sanchez, but the extent of their relationship is just now becoming clear.
Reportedly, the two began dating before their respective divorces and are still going strong, over three years later. How does one of the world's richest and most powerful men woo a not-so-famous TV star? Well, Bezos had an unusual method. The full story of the Bezos-Sanchez relationship is one of the many topics that Bloomberg journalist Brad Stone delves into, in his new book, 'Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire'. Here's how the relationship blossomed, thanks to a shared love of flying.
RELATED ARTICLES
Jeff Bezos' lover Lauren Sanchez finalizes divorce with Patrick Whitesell, to share custody of kids
How did Bezos woo Sanchez?
The two first met through Sanchez's then-husband, talent agent Patrick Whitesell. It's unclear when, where or how this meeting happened, but it set the stone for a massive change in all their lives. In 2016, Bezos and Sanchez reconnected at an Amazon Studios party in Los Angeles for 'Manchester by the Sea'. The two bonded over their shared love of flying, with Sanchez being a helicopter pilot and Bezos owning the rocket company Blue Origin.
It helped that Bezos was becoming an increasingly public figure, reportedly his ex-wife MacKenzie hated being in the spotlight. So as they grew apart, he found solace in Sanchez, who was also accustomed to being in the limelight as a media personality. In 2018, the duo went on one of their first 'dates' together to the Mars Conference hosted by Bezos. A symposium for luminaries of the space industries. This might not sound like the ideal place for a first date, but for Bezos and Sanchez, it worked.
Reportedly, Sanchez got a good laugh out of Bezos playing table tennis with a Japanese robot. The date reportedly cemented their relationship and only a few weeks later she introduced Bezos to her brother Michael. Shortly afterward, Bezos gave Sanchez, her brother and mother a tour of the Washington Post offices, which he owns. All this while, the couple also shared their infamous raunchy texts and photos, which were leaked by the National Inquirer.
Eventually, the two became so close that Sanchez's areal production company Black Ops Aviation, began producing films for Blue Origin. Bezos' team also noticed that their boss was becoming increasingly hard to find and that he had even begun enjoying helicopter rides, which he famously hated in the past. Eventually, the story came out, with the Inquirer's leak, leading to the divorce between Jeff and MacKenzie.
Where are the couple now?
Since the divorce, Bezos has been spotted with Sanchez a handful of times. He also confirmed the relationship, denting the impact of the Inquirer's report. Sanchez also divorced Whitesell, leaving the couple free to pursue their romance in the public eye. The two famously visited the Taj Mahal in India in 2020. Sanchez spends her time accompanying Bezos to his many public meetings, such as his February 2020 meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Their public appearances have been limited, in part because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but that doesn't mean they haven't been completely silent. In April 2021, Sanchez was seen in Bezos's Instagram tour of a family shelter on the Seattle Amazon campus. So it seems like all's well between the two, who are still clearly in love.