Jeff Bezos has ‘gone Hollywood’ for girlfriend Lauren Sanchez

February 15, 2020

This week, Jeff Bezos broke Los Angeles home-sales records when he splashed out $165 million for music mogul David Geffen’s Beverly Hills estate, a 13,600-square-foot mansion with old Hollywood history: It was built for Warner Bros. studios founder Jack L. Warner in the 1930s.

It fits perfectly with the new celebrity life that the Amazon.com CEO — the world’s richest man, reportedly worth $131 billion — has cultivated for himself.

On Feb. 7 the couple joined Vogue editor Anna Wintour and daughter Bee Shaffer at Tom Ford’s LA fashion show.
On Feb. 7 the couple joined Vogue editor Anna Wintour and daughter Bee Shaffer at Tom Ford’s LA fashion show.Billy Farrell/BFA.com

Consider any high-profile pop-culture event of the past few months, and Bezos, 56, was in attendance. (Meanwhile, when was the last time you saw Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates at a fashion show?)

There he was at the Oscars last weekend, looking gleeful about being the butt of jokes. “He’s got cash. When he writes a check, the bank bounces,” said Chris Rock from the stage. “Like, Jeff Bezos is so rich, he got divorced and he’s still the richest man in the world.”

Although he was with his eldest son, Preston, at the ceremony, Bezos was joined by his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, at the Vanity Fair party afterward. The couple then hit the hottest bash in Holly­wood — “The Party,” an annual extravaganza thrown by music manager Guy Oseary — alongside Oscar winners Brad Pitt, Renée Zellweger, Laura Dern and others.

This week, Bezos bought David Geffen’s $165 million estate in Beverly Hills.
This week, Bezos bought David Geffen’s $165 million estate in Beverly Hills.

Accompanied by Preston, 19, as well as Sanchez’s 19-year-old son, Nikko Gonzalez, the couple were said to be “inseparable,” according to a guest.

Two nights earlier, Bezos and Sanchez were front row — seated next to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour — for designer Tom Ford’s star-studded fashion show. Photos show Bezos grinning while Jennifer Lopez clutches his arm. (The Financial Times’ headline: “Tom Ford draws stars, plus Jeff Bezos, in LA.”)

Indeed, cameras are now as likely to snap Bezos and Sanchez at a big event as they are J.Lo and A-Rod. See also: the Super Bowl, where Bezos hung out with Lizzo and hit nightclubs alongside his lady love; and the royal box at Wimbledon, where Bezos and Sanchez passionately made out for photographers.

Bezos and Sánchez pose for photographs in front of the Taj Mahal on Jan. 21, 2020.
Bezos and Sánchez pose for photographs in front of the Taj Mahal on Jan. 21, 2020.AP

“I’ve known Jeff since the early days of Amazon and his recent behavior is nothing that I would expect from him — this is not the Jeff that I knew,” one well-placed former colleague told The Post.

Sure, Bezos is the world’s richest man, but insiders say he didn’t really start flaunting his money and position — or using it as celebrity clout — until he hooked up with Sanchez.

It’s all a far cry from the Seattle suburbs, where then-geeky Bezos — who grew up in the Southwest — moved after quitting his job at a New York hedge fund. There he set up Amazon.com in the garage of his rental house in 1994. Photos from that time show him with already thinning hair and clad in decidedly uncool pleated khakis.

Meanwhile, when Bezos and Sanchez made their red-carpet debut at an Amazon Prime event in Mumbai, India, last month, he upgraded to a flashy black-and-white patterned tuxedo jacket, while she chose a sexy gown with a neckline that plunged to her waist and a skirt cut high on her thigh.

“Jeff has clearly ‘gone Hollywood,’ ” said a family source. “Risky fashion choices, lunch with Anna Wintour, a nonstop barrage of shameless selfies with A-listers He’s . . . a narcissist with poor judgment, and Lauren is calling the shots.”

Since Bezos’ split from first wife MacKenzie — his spouse of 26 years and the mother of his three children — in late 2018 and the subsequent revelation of his affair with bombshell Sanchez, the tech titan has become an object of public fascination. It looks like he’s milking it for all it’s worth.

Jeff was seen chatting up Hollywood A lister, Jennifer Lopez, at the Tome Ford show this February.
Jeff was seen chatting up Hollywood A lister, Jennifer Lopez, at the Tome Ford show this February.Billy Farrell/BFA.com

To be fair, Bezos has been a frequent Oscars guest for years — after all, Amazon Studios makes films, including 2017 Best Picture nominee “Manchester by The Sea.” It’s just that no one really paid attention to him until now.

“Jeff started going to the Oscars and the Oscars parties 15 years ago,” said an Amazon source. “Amazon’s expansion and his profile have gone hand-in-hand; of course people are more interested in his personal life now. He went on Barry Diller’s yacht for the first time in 2015, [and] people just didn’t report on it.”

But when you sport tight swim trunks and $500 Prada flip-flops while cavorting on Geffen’s superyacht, as Bezos did in December, people tend to take notice.

Bezos and Sanchez are close to several Hollywood bigwigs — a crowd that includes Geffen, music manager Scooter Braun and wife Yael, media power player Diller and fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg.

A less glamorous Bezos with former wife, MacKenzie, in 2006.
A less glamorous Bezos with former wife, MacKenzie, in 2006.Victoria Will

As Page Six reported, Bezos threw a massive 50th birthday party for Sanchez in December, renting out a Beverly Hills mansion and inviting Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom and Timothée Chalamet.

A source who knew Sanchez said she has always loved LA and the life it ­affords her. After all, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner and Matt Damon were among the guests at her wedding to Hollywood power agent Patrick Whitesell in 2005.

Only time will tell if Bezos ends up considering the new LA mansion his main residence.

“Jeff has had a place in Beverly Hills,” said the Amazon source of a home that, it’s believed, MacKenzie took as part of their $38 billion divorce settlement.

“He does like LA, but he also has homes in DC, Seattle and New York — he has no main residence,” the Amazon source added. “He goes among the four places.”

Bezos’ real estate team has been busy: He also dropped $90 million on an ­undeveloped plot of land in LA.

An insider told The Post that Bezos and Sanchez were secretly shown the Warner estate by top Hollywood broker Michelle Graci, who declined to comment. (However, it’s believed Bezos made the deal with Geffen himself on board Geffen’s yacht.)

Bezos and Sanchez also reportedly considered the Chartwell estate in Bel-Air — famously known as “The Beverly Hillbillies” house.

While on Geffen’s yacht in December, Sanchez was seen wearing a huge diamond ring on her right hand. And claims that she and Bezos are engaged recently came about in a most unusual way recently.

Sanchez’s brother, Michael — who is suing Bezos, alleging the billionaire defamed him by claiming Michael leaked sexually explicit photos of Bezos to the National Enquirer — claims in court papers the couple are engaged and they began their relationship earlier than first reported.

Bezos enjoying the 2020 oscars.
Bezos enjoying the 2020 oscars.

The suit claims Michael helped in “covering up” the romance between the pair and that his sister had wanted him to leak news of the affair to TMZ.

Sources say that, rather than driving a wedge between Bezos and Sanchez, the highly public scandals brought the couple closer than ever.

“They think the universe has brought them together — and who knows, they may be right,” said a source who knows them both. “I don’t know any other celebrity couple who could have survived what they have.”

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