Call her Queen of the Amazon.
Numerous reports have confirmed that Lauren Sánchez is now engaged to Amazon Chief Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos. The couple has been dating since 2019, but Bezos, 59, apparently popped the question over the weekend while the two were vacationing aboard his $500 million yacht in Cannes.
Gossip column Page Six first broke the news after Sanchez, 53, was photographed wearing a giant 20-carat diamond ring on her finger, estimated to cost about $2 million.
Lauren Sanchez shows off massive engagement ring on Jeff Bezos’ $500M yacht https://t.co/LLiqopVWB8 pic.twitter.com/XDwDqMQWh1
— Page Six (@PageSix) May 22, 2023
The couple was spotted together on Saturday night at a premiere for the upcoming Martin Scorcese movie, Killers of the Flower Moon, and then the next day on Bezos’s massive yacht named Koru, which means loop in is Māori. The yacht also boasts a wooden sculpture made in the likeness of Sánchez on the prow.
Who is Lauren Sánchez?
Bezos’s bride-to-be is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and former host of Good Day LA on Fox 11. Sánchez is also a licensed pilot. She founded Black Ops Aviation in 2016, the first female-owned and operated aerial film and production company.
Though the origin of her relationship with Bezos is not entirely clear, the two were said to have first met back in 2016 at a party for the Amazon Studios film “Manchester by the Sea,” according to the book Amazon Unbound.
A few years later, Bezos hired Sánchez’s production company to film footage for his space company Blue Origin. The couple began quietly dating while Bezos finalized the divorce with his first wife of 25 years, MacKenzie Scott.
Sánchez has been married twice. Her first husband was NFL player Tony Gonzales. Her second husband was Hollywood power agent Patrick Whitesell.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Sánchez helped Bezos overcome his fear of flying— the result of a 2003 chopper crash. She told CNN last year that she wants to follow in her future husband’s footsteps and fly to space with an all-female crew this year.
Related: Jeff Bezos’ Partner Lauren Sanchez Plans to Go to Space in 2023
A shared passion for the environment
Aside from blasting into outer space, Bezos and Sánchez share a common interest in combating climate change. Sánchez serves as the Vice Chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, which has committed $10 billion over ten years, or about 8% of Bezoz’s net worth, to be “disbursed as grants to address climate and nature within the current decade.” Bezos has also pledged to donate most of his fortune to fighting climate change.
While the couple has not spoken much publicly about their relationship, Sánchez has praised Bezos on her Instagram page, writing: “You have shown me that no great love is not bravely fought for. Thank you for always being by my side and for being the most loving and supportive partner.”