Amazon’s Jeff Bezos 'secretly seeing estranged wife of Hollywood mogul' as he heads for biggest divorce in history

Bezos, 54, has been seeing Lauren Sanchez,  former TV anchor and the glamorous wife of talent agent Patrick Whitesell, Page Six says.

The world’s richest man — and wife MacKenzie, 48,  revealed their 25-year marriage was over in a joint statement.

He may have to give his wife HALF of his $160billion fortune the biggest divorce in history.

Sources said that Bezos, 54, and Sanchez, 49, – who also works as a helicopter pilot – got to know each other through her husband Whitesell, one of Hollywood’s most powerful men.

He is agent to stars including Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Kevin Costner, Hugh Jackman, plus a host of other A-listers.



Patrick, Lauren and Jeff were even pictured together at a 2016 event for the movie Manchester By The Sea.

But sources say Lauren became closer to Bezos after she separated with Whitesell before Christmas.

An exclusive source told Page Six “Patrick and Lauren have socialized with Jeff Bezos and his wife for a few years, because both (now former) couples have houses in Seattle.

“Patrick and Lauren Sanchez have been separated for a while. 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," a source said.

Sanchez and Whitesell wed in 2005 and have two young children.



Lauren, a former co-host on Fox 11’s “Good Day LA,” has been a guest host on ABC’s “The View” and “Extra.” She was also the original host of Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance.” She also runs a company called Black Ops Aviation, which specializes in shooting aerial shots for TV shows, movies and commercials.

Jeff and Mackenzie wed the year before he founded Amazon, are not thought to have signed a pre-nuptial agreement, according to reports.

Divorce laws in their home state Washington say wealth made during a marriage must be split 50-50.

Half of Bezos’s fortune would make award-winning author MacKenzie the world’s richest woman.

And their break-up could dwarf the £2.9billion French tycoon Alec Wildenstein paid to ex-wife Jocelyn in 1999.

Bezos and MacKenzie, who have four kids, said they broke up after a “trial separation”.


But their Twitter statement added: “We remain cherished friends.”

The couple met in New York in 1992 when Bezos, then a hedge fund executive, interviewed her for a job.

He set up Amazon as an online bookstore in his garage in 1994 employing his wife as an accountant for the start-up.

His wife is said to have supported him as he turned it into the world’s biggest stock market-listed firm.

They have homes in LA, New York and three other US cities worth a total £93million.

Bezos also owns the Washington Post newspaper.

Forbes magazine's "real-time rich list" currently puts his personal fortune at $136.4bn (£107bn), after he became the first man ever to have a wealth of more than $150bn.

Reuters estimates his wealth at more than $160bn thanks to his 16 per cent holding in the online giant.

A version of this story originally appeared on Page Six.



 

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