Amazon's Jeff Bezos–Lauren Sánchez Wedding: A Star-Studded Spectacle Of Luxury Amid Mass Protests In Venice
Venice, Italy: The canals of Venice shimmered under the weight of glamour and opulence as Jeff Bezos (61), founder of Amazon, wed media personality Lauren Sánchez (55) in a three-day affair culminating on Saturday in what is being hailed as the “wedding of the century.” However, the city’s cobbled alleys and piazzas echoed with a markedly different tune of discontent.
The extravagant celebrations, reportedly costing upwards of ₹500 crore (approx. USD 60 million), drew an elite guest list including Oprah Winfrey, Orlando Bloom, and Kylie Jenner.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, were also in attendance. The newlyweds were first seen in official wedding portraits posted to Sánchez’s newly created Instagram account, where she appeared in a flowing white gown, while Bezos wore a classic black coat and tie.
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Before the ceremony, the couple had been staying at the lavish Aman Hotel on the Grand Canal, where suites are priced at nearly €4,000 (₹4.68 lakh) per night.
Ninety private jets are believed to have landed for the occasion, prompting widespread criticism and fuelling ongoing protests led by climate activists and local Venetians alike.
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The pre-wedding events, staged in the heart of Venice near the Grand Canal, have reignited long-standing frustrations about the unchecked inflow of wealth, celebrity tourism, and its impact on the fragile cultural and environmental fabric of the city.
Now, the couple reportedly left from opulent Aman Hotel in Venice, Italy, is making its way to the historic island of San Giorgio Maggiore — the breathtaking setting for his wedding.
Activist groups have criticised the event for turning Venice into a personal backdrop for billionaire extravagance, arguing that it underscores the city’s transformation into a “playground for the global elite” while locals grapple with the consequences of over-tourism and gentrification.
Demonstrators held signs reading “No place for Bezos” and “Tax the billionaires,” condemning the transformation of Venice into what they called a playground for the ultra-wealthy.
Many accused the wedding of symbolising the broader issue of the city being “sold to the rich,” a longstanding grievance among locals fighting over-tourism and cultural erosion.
No Space for Bezos! sign from Venetians protesting Jeff Bezos’s wedding in Venice could have another meaning, no? pic.twitter.com/HpfDPZknRH
— P Green (@PeeGreenP) June 22, 2025
This backlash forms part of a larger, years-long campaign in Venice against the mass tourism that has flooded its narrow streets and fragile waterways, contributing to rising living costs, cultural erosion, and environmental degradation.
Also, read| Why Venice Is Protesting Against Jeff Bezos–Lauren Sánchez Wedding
Activists note that hosting such a lavish, carbon-heavy event, with luxury yachts, water taxis, and fleets of private jets, starkly contradicts global calls for climate responsibility.
The world’s third-richest person, Bezos’s journey from hedge fund analyst to global tech titan is the stuff of capitalist mythology. After marrying novelist MacKenzie Scott in 1993, the pair moved to Seattle, where Bezos famously started Amazon from a garage. That union, which has four children, ended after 25 years amid revelations of his affair with Sánchez, a former news anchor and helicopter pilot.
Their relationship has since blossomed into one of the most high-profile romances in recent memory, culminating in this Venetian wedding spectacle.
Sánchez, often seen alongside Bezos at galas and space launches, has been rebranded in the public eye as both confidante and co-pilot, figuratively and literally, in Bezos’s sprawling post-divorce chapter.
