Strange Things About Lauren Sánchez & Jeff Bezos' Relationship

After Jeff Bezos' 25-year marriage to Mackenzie Scott ended in 2019, he quickly found love again with Lauren Sánchez. Only a couple of weeks after their relationship was confirmed in January, insiders excitedly confirmed to People they were completely smitten and even eager to start living together. But, although Sánchez and Bezos were spotted on several dates over the year, they still kept their romance relatively private. The former talk show host opened up about her relationship with Bezos in a 2023 Wall Street Journal interview, revealing that they were practically inseparable despite his demanding schedule. 

However, when they were home on Sunday mornings, the billionaire would always whip up some pancakes for his partner using a recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook. Sánchez also asserted that most people would be surprised by just how funny Bezos was behind the scenes. The media personality had shared a similar sentiment in a 2022 Instagram birthday tribute for him, writing, "They don't see the man who puts everything aside to help a sick friend, but my eyes do." 

She continued, "They don't see the man who wakes up early every morning to make breakfast for the kids so they can laugh and talk about life and science and how to make this world a better place — my eyes do." Their relationship only got more serious in 2023, when People established that Bezos had popped the question in May. While everything seemed to be going well for them on the outside, Sánchez and Bezos' romance was actually stranger than it seemed.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez reportedly first met because of her now ex-husband, Patrick Whitesell. According to an Us Weekly insider, the Endeavor chairman "introduced Lauren to Jeff and suggested they work together on a documentary." Similarly, another source confirmed to Page Six that Whitesell and Sánchez stayed in touch with Bezos for a couple of years. The billionaire made good use of his future partner's talents as a helicopter pilot by having her shoot some aerial shots for his company, Blue Origins. But their relationship coincidentally only turned romantic around the end of their respective marriages. 

Just hours after Bezos announced his split from Mackenzie Scott, a confidant informed People that Sánchez and Whitesell's marriage was over, too. They also noted, "Lauren and Jeff have been spending a lot of time together over the last year and especially the past few months." The confidant stated that their tight-knit bond had even caused people around them to question if the duo's relationship was purely platonic. 

However, they insisted that Whitesell and Sánchez's marriage had been on the rocks for a while, and he was aware of the new romance. While an Us Weekly insider admitted that the helicopter pilot's marriage endured a rough patch in the previous year, he hadn't given up on their long-standing union. "Patrick was totally blindsided," the source claimed. "He had no idea how serious the affair was or how long it was going on for." 

Shortly after Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez's relationship became public knowledge, The National Enquirer published explicit texts between the pair from April 2018. "I love you, alive girl. I will show you with my body, and my lips and my eyes, very soon," he reportedly wrote to Sánchez, per Page Six. The billionaire also supposedly sent an explicit photo alongside the message. However, their relationship appeared to have a strong emotional component too, as the Blue Origins founder expressed his desire for deep conversations with Sánchez and even longed to see her for breakfast. 

The controversial tabloid posited that Mackenzie Scott started suspecting that her husband's relationship with Sánchez wasn't all that platonic or professional when she learned he was taking a flight with her with no one else on board. However, the Amazon founder reassured her that it was just a business meeting. The controversial way in which Bezos and Sánchez reportedly started their romance naturally had dire consequences for their respective marriages and for his insanely popular online retailer as well. 

Speaking on the "Foundering" podcast, former Amazon PR Chief Craig Berman pointed out, "The CEO image that Bezos had spent two decades cultivating of a devoted family man and committed husband was a thing of the past." He elaborated, "In a sense, his personal life had become incompatible with his professional responsibilities." Likewise, Bezos starting an affair also had a negative impact on people's faith in his decision-making.

In 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported that The National Enquirer had paid Lauren Sánchez's brother $200,000 in exchange for Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos' racy private messages. The bizarre revelation was only made stranger by the New York Post's report suggesting that Lauren had sent her brother the explicit texts in the first place. Even Gavin de Becker, who heads up Bezos' personality security, confessed to the Daily Beast that Michael was a person of interest in their investigation to find the source of the leak. 

Although the reason remained unclear, de Becker argued, "Strong leads point to political motives." However, Michael denied being responsible for Bezos' NSFW pictures being leaked to the tabloid in a chat with Vanity Fair, instead proclaiming, "Lauren likely shared them with multiple girlfriends, not in a malicious way, that's not her style, but when she's in love, she got a kick out of sharing them." He even suggested that the helicopter pilot had shown him explicit photos sent by another lover and he had told her off for it. 

However, when the interviewer questioned if he was behind the text leaks, Michael coyly answered, "I'm not saying I didn't do something." Despite everything, Michael sued his future brother-in-law in 2020 for defamation for accusing him of sharing Bezos' lewd photos. Although the lawsuit was dismissed in November, the legal battle between them raged on and, in January 2021, the Amazon founder demanded that Michael reimburse the $1.7 million he had incurred in legal fees from the case. However, Bezos was ultimately only awarded $218,000.

While Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez were on a romantic getaway in the South of France in May 2023, he asked her to marry him. During the former news anchor's November chat with Vogue, she revealed that her beau had opted for a low-key but incredibly romantic proposal by placing the ring under her pillow so that she could discover it after they had dinner together. Needless to say, one of the richest people on the planet didn't spare any expense when it came to the ring and went all out with an extremely rare pink diamond. 

In fact, master jeweler Briony Raymond proudly told People that Sánchez's massive rock "appears to feature a spectacular cushion cut diamond in the 25-30 carat range set in an ultra-classic four prong platinum mounting," estimating a minimum price tag of $3 million with the potential to go up to $5 million. Although Sánchez couldn't be happier about the engagement, she also acknowledged to Vogue that they hadn't locked down even the basic details of their wedding. It didn't seem like the celebrity couple had made any great strides in the following year either because there was no ceremony and essentially no public talk of wedding planning either. 

Although it may be easy to chalk the delay up to Bezos' jam-packed schedule, it's worth remembering that they could've easily hired wedding planners to shoulder most of the responsibility. And it's never a good sign if a couple starts reminding people of Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle's incredibly long engagement (which obviously ended with their eventual split).

In a 2019 chat with Page Six, one of Jeff Bezos' former friends professed that they spotted a huge red flag with Lauren Sánchez because of all the men she dated before finding love with billionaire Jeff Bezos. They argued that Lauren had a tendency to jump from one serious relationship to the next, adding, "Jeff Bezos is seriously stupid if he's thinking of marrying her. He's already seriously stupid for giving up half his fortune for her." The former news anchor's ex-fiancé and former Denver Broncos player, Anthony Miller, similarly raised another glaring red flag in an interview with the Daily Mail that same year. The former NFL star claimed that Lauren had cheated on him and he had only learned of her infidelity by going through the journalist's diary. 

However, it's worth keeping in mind that another source declared that it was actually Miller who had been unfaithful in their relationship. Additionally, infidelity was also the reason why Lauren's brother, Michael Sánchez, was weary of her romance with Bezos in its early days. Speaking to Page Six, Michael disclosed that his sister had tried to set up a casual meeting between him and her new love in 2018 but Michael had made it clear that he wasn't interested in being introduced to the Blue Origins founder and even quipped to his inner circle: "Not my circus, not my clowns!" Finally, after much convincing from Lauren, Michael grabbed dinner with the couple and realized their relationship was far more serious than he previously thought.