Good Information! Jeff Bezos Is Married

Jeff Bezos is formally off the market. The Amazon founder married his fiancée, former TV anchor Lauren Sánchez, in a lavish ceremony on Friday, June 27, on the non-public island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, Italy, capping a multi-day spectacle of wealth, energy, and controversy.

Sánchez shared a radiant Instagram submit of herself in a flowing white costume alongside Bezos, suited up in a tuxedo. The marriage marked the fruits of a multi-day spectacle that drew 200 celeb friends, dozens of personal jets, luxurious yachts, and loads of social media consideration.

Among the many A-list attendees: Oprah Winfrey, Kris Jenner, Kim and Khloé Kardashian, Barbra Streisand, George and Amal Clooney, and Leonardo DiCaprio, who, notably, as soon as grew to become the topic of an web meme after an ungainly red-carpet encounter with Sánchez.

However on the streets of the historic metropolis, a distinct story was unfolding.

The “No House For Bezos” Backlash

As Gizmodo beforehand reported, the announcement of the marriage’s location sparked instant and arranged protests from locals. Below the banner of “No House For Bezos,” a dozen Venetian organizations, from housing advocates to anti-cruise ship campaigners, denounced what they see because the exploitation of their metropolis.

Protesters argue that the marriage, with an estimated price ticket north of $50 million, exemplifies the forces which are making Venice uninhabitable for its personal residents: rampant overtourism, hovering housing prices, and the fixed risk of climate-induced flooding. They staged small-scale demonstrations all through the week, unfurling anti-Bezos banners at iconic websites. The stress finally pressured the couple to maneuver their principal reception social gathering to the Arsenale, a medieval complicated deemed safer and fewer inclined to protest flotillas.

Town’s governor, Luca Zaia, defended the marriage as an financial boon, however critics on the bottom pointed to Amazon’s controversial labor practices and ongoing tax disputes as causes for his or her concern.

Why This Isn’t Only a Wedding ceremony

Bezos’ marriage ceremony is a uncooked show of energy. Within the twenty first century, tech billionaires are the brand new royalty, and their weddings have turn into de facto coronations. They’re meticulously crafted PR occasions designed to challenge a picture of benevolent, cultured, and nearly feudal energy.

The pre-wedding invitation, as beforehand mentioned, was an ideal instance of this. It kindly requested “no items” and as a substitute highlighted the couple’s  donations to 3 native environmental analysis teams. It’s a basic transfer: wrap an occasion of staggering carbon-footprint extra within the smooth packaging of eco-philanthropy. The message is evident: we will afford to purchase a complete metropolis for a weekend, and we will additionally afford to put it aside.

In the end, the Bezos-Sánchez marriage ceremony serves as a strong image of our period, the place the logistical energy of a tech empire can requisition a historic metropolis, the place the road between celeb and tech titan has utterly blurred, and the place even probably the most extravagant shows of wealth include a fastidiously worded press launch about giving again.