When Jeff Bezos says “I do” for the second time, the real vows may be in his prenuptial agreement. With billions on the line and a famously public divorce behind him, the Amazon founder’s pending nuptials with former news anchor Lauren Sanchez are raising speculation about the legal fine print behind the mogul’s highly anticipated wedding. Bezos, who is the fourth richest person in the world and currently worth $223.7 billion, stands to lose a significant amount of his fortune without the proper legal protections should his second marriage fail.
Bezos and Sanchez’s three-day Venetian wedding celebration kicks off on June 24 and is said to be costing the couple upwards of $10 million. The couple announced their engagement in 2023, but ultimately delayed tying the knot due to delays with the prenup. According to The Hollywood Reporter, an insider said that the Bezos-Sanchez marriage was originally planned for the winter of 2024 in Aspen, but adjustments to the legal agreement pushed the date back, with Bezos’ lawyers allegedly forbidding the billionaire from moving forward until the prenup was settled.
Bezos’ and Sanchez’ prenup comes after the Amazon founder’s divorce in 2019 from MacKenzie Scott in which no such agreement existed. Scott walked away with more than $38 billion in Amazon shares, making the split one of the costliest separations in history. The divorce included explosive cheating allegations that accused Bezos of having an affair with now-fiancée Sanchez. The pair’s 25-year marriage long predated Bezos’ financial success; indeed, Scott worked as the first Amazon employee and witnessed Bezos usher Amazon into its iconic position. She also has four children with Bezos.
Bezos’ decision to protect his assets the second time around isn’t shocking to high-profile divorce attorney Robert Cohen, of Cohen Clair Lans Greifer & Simpson, who has handled the divorces of Melinda French Gates and Michael Bloomberg. “They’ve likely been through a nightmare before, which is litigation over their prior divorce and how much you’re giving the other side, or getting, and they don’t want to do that,” he tells Fortune.
Sanchez, who was married to her first husband Patrick Whitesell until 2019, allegedly signed a prenup with her former spouse with whom she shares two children. When the couple split, their assets and properties were divided per the agreement.
While the intimate details of Bezos and Sanchez’s prenup are private and confidential, there are several common components likely to be present in the document and its preparations. Cohen, who is not representing Bezos or Sanchez, said the main factors are likely the sharing of assets, providing support for Sanchez, and death provisions. Within the terms, he speculates that Bezos’ legal team will seek to limit what Sanchez would receive of his assets or so-called “alimony” and would include protections for his four children from his first marriage.
“He’s also going to want to consider what he’s done to terminate his first marriage, because there may be obligations in that that would affect the prenup,” Cohen continues.
Some of these considerations could include protecting the financial security of Bezos’ children, says Chris Chen, a financial planner with Insight Financial Strategies. He points to the potential establishment of an irrevocable trust where the children are beneficiaries.
“It’s about how to put the assets in the prenup in such a way that Lauren doesn’t have a claim to them and, at the same time, being generous enough that she doesn’t really have a reason to complain,” Chen adds.
Aside from the terms of the contract, Bezos’ lawyers will likely be working to ensure the contract is recognized in the jurisdictions where he owns property and where he is married. The Amazon founder’s speculated primary residence is in Miami where he owns several properties totalling an estimated $237 million. Bezos also maintains estates in California, Texas, Washington, D.C., and Maui and owns the Washington Post and aerospace company Blue Origin.
Different jurisdictions also have different requirements for the legal document. In California, where Bezos owns property, he would be required to disclose to his spouse a complete picture of his finances encompassing his domestic and foreign investments, real estate portfolios, and potentially corporate governance frameworks. “You don’t want there to be anything that you omit or misidentify,” Cohen adds. Even in states that don’t require disclosure, he says he advises his clients to do so anyway.
Regardless of the prenuptial agreement’s details, Bezos’ upcoming wedding is no small feat. With a fortune his size, marriage is as much business as it is romance.
