If you didn’t know who Amazon boss Jeff Bezos was, chances are you do now.
Not only is the world’s richest man – worth $191 billion – about to go through what is shaping up as the most expensive divorce in history, he’s also caught up in an embarrassing cheating scandal, with the technology entrepreneur allegedly sending steamy texts to his rumoured secret TV star lover.
News first broke of the collapse of Bezos’ marriage on Jan. 9. The 55-year-old businessman revealed on Twitter he and his wife of 25 years, MacKenzie Bezos, 48, planned to divorce. Jeff and MacKenzie, who have four children together, said they broke up after a “trial separation”.
“We feel incredibly lucky to have found each other and deeply grateful for every one of the years we have been married to each other,” the estranged couple said in a joint statement.
“If we had known we would separate after 25 years, we would do it all again.”
But hours later came the shocking National Enquirer story in which the magazine reported he had been having an eight month affair with Laura Sanchez, the wife of Hollywood agent Patrick Whitesell.
Then there were leaked texts Bezos is alleged to have sent Sanchez, a former TV host. “I want to hold you tight … I want to kiss your lips … I love you. I am in love with you,” the Enquirer reported. It’s also alleged he sent Sanchez erotic selfies, which the magazine deemed “too explicit” to print.
How did the Enquirer get the text messages? It’s understood Sanchez boasted about her blossoming romance with Bezos to a friend and shared the racy texts. And the friend then sent the texts to the Enquirer. The magazine trailed the billionaire and his lover for months, alleging he whisked her away to fancy destinations aboard his private jet.
The allegations of the affair – true or not – are certainly a huge headache for the Amazon chief executive. Before news of the alleged cheating scandal broke, Bezos was reportedly in a fine mood at the recent Golden Globes, in Los Angeles on Jan. 6.
He and MacKenzie were even seen together at Amazon’s Golden Globes party.
But since the Enquirer story was published, he’s apparently a different man.
“He’s completely changed,” a Hollywood insider told WHO. “He was in a great mood on Sunday night, more playful and much more loose than he usually is.”
Bezos’ divorce settlement with MacKenzie, an award-winning author, could turn out to be the most expensive in history.
The couple is understood not to have signed a pre-nup before they married. In the US state of Washington, where they mostly live, divorce laws say wealth made during a marriage must be split equally.
Bezos also owns The Washington Post newspaper.
Sanchez, who was the original host of the US version of So You Think You Can Dance, and is a regular guest host on talk show The View, is in the midst of a divorce from her husband, Whitesell.
The couple have two children – a daughter and son – and Sanchez has a son from a previous relationship with former NFL player Tony Gonzalez.
She is also a helicopter pilot.
Whitesell is reportedly one of Hollywood’s most powerful men and is agent to stars including Matt Damon, Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman.
According to The New York Post, the two couples – Jeff and MacKenzie and Sanchez and Whitesell – had socialised for years.
It’s understood Sanchez and Whitesell separated before Christmas. “Patrick and Lauren Sanchez have been separated for a while,” a source told the The New York Post.
“Their marriage has been off and on for a while, and they tried hard to fix things, but in the fall they officially separated. She had told Patrick that she has been recently seeing Jeff Bezos.”
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