- Jeff Bezos is the founder of Amazon and one of the richest men in the world.
- He was married to Mackenzie Scott from 1993 until 2019, and they have four kids.
- Jeff and his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez got engaged in May 2023.
Jeff Bezos is one of the richest men alive. As one of the founders of Amazon, the billionaire has revolutionized the way that people shop and content is consumed. He’s worth an estimated $139.1 billion, making him the third richest person in the world, behind Bernard Arnault and Elon Musk, according to Forbes. Besides Amazon’s many ventures, Jeff has also explored otherworldly opportunities, through his space program Blue Origin.
Now, Jeff is getting ready to be a married man for the second time! The Amazon founder, 59, reportedly proposed to his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez, 53, on May 22, 2023. The engagement comes after almost five years of dating. Lauren won’t be the Blue Origin founder’s first wife. He was first wed to Mackenzie Scott, 53, for much of his career. Find out everything you need to know about Jeff’s first marriage and his engagement to Lauren.
How did Jeff and Mackenzie meet?
While Jeff is now a household name for founding Amazon and as one of the richest people in the world, he met Mackenzie long before he had begun Amazon. The billionaire met his wife while they were both working at a hedge fund called D.E. Shaw in 1992. She revealed that she interviewed with him and had “love at first listen” after hearing his laugh from his office, as she told Charlie Rose in 2013.
While Mackenzie has pursued a few different careers throughout her life, she is most well-known as a novelist. Her 2005 debut The Testing of Luther Albright won the American Book Award the following year. She published her second book Trapped in 2013.
They got married in 1993 and have 4 kids
A year after hiring her, Jeff and Mackenzie got married in 1993, and the following year Jeff set out to chase his dream of starting what would become Amazon. Mackenzie said that she was supportive from the get-go in the above-mentioned Charlie Rose interview. “What I’m hearing when he tells me that idea is the passion and the excitement, and to me, watching your spouse, somebody that you love have an adventure, what is better than that? And being part of that, I couldn’t wait to hop in the car!” she said.
Throughout their 25-year marriage, Jeff and Mackenzie began a family with four children. Mackenzie gave birth to three sons, and they adopted a daughter. For the most part, the couple kept their family very private, but their oldest son Preston was born in 2000. When Jeff made his flight to space with Blue Origin in 2021, his sons were there to hug him as he returned to Earth.
Jeff and Mackenzie split in 2019
Jeff and Mackenzie announced that they planned to divorce in a joint statement in January 2019. “After a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce,” they said at the time. “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. If we had known we would separate after 25 years, we would do it all again.”
Shortly after the couple announced their split, Jeff’s relationship with Lauren was made public. The National Enquirer leaked texts and photos revealing that they’d been having an affair, prior to the joint statement from the Amazon founder and writer.
After Jeff and Mackenzie split, she became the third richest woman in the world. She also remarried Dan Jewett in 2021. Unfortunately, her second marriage didn’t work out, and she filed for divorce in 2022, and they finalized the split in January 2023.
Jeff and Lauren Sanchez started dating publicly in 2019
While Jeff and Lauren’s relationship wasn’t fully public when their romance was revealed following the divorce, the pair were seen on their first public date night months later in May 2019. As time has passed, Jeff and the news anchor have been seen out and about more publicly, taking vacations and spending romantic outings together. The couple gave their first interview together with CNN in November 2022. “We’re really great teammates, and we also have a lot of fun together and we love each other,” Lauren said about Jeff. “We always look at each other and we’re the team.”
Lauren was also there when Jeff made his return to Earth, following Blue Origin’s maiden voyage in 2021. Lauren has also spoken about what she loves about the billionaire, and similar to Mackenzie, she said his sense of humor was great for their relationship. “He makes me laugh all the time. He can be goofy,” she told The Wall Street Journal in January 2023. “That laugh makes me smile. When I first heard his laugh, I was like, ‘Whoa! What is that?’ Now I love it.”
Jeff and Lauren got engaged in 2023
After nearly 5 years of dating, it was reported that the pair got engaged on Jeff’s yacht in May 2023. The couple were reportedly vacationing in the South Of France for the Cannes Film Fest, when Jeff popped the question. Lauren was also reportedly seen with a ring on her finger, per People. While the couple has yet to make an official announcement, and their wedding plans haven’t been made public yet, it will surely be an amazing celebration.