Latest news with #MacKenzieScott
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez are one of the richest married couples. Here's how the ultrawealthy do prenups.
With Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez now married, they're likely to have a complex prenup. Lawyers and wealth management experts outlined the prenup process for the superrich. Business control, property ownership, and trusts are just some of the questions prenups tackle. Hindsight is 20/20 — especially when hindsight is worth $38 billion. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott, his first wife, got married without a prenup (in 1993, before Bezos started Amazon). Scott received roughly $38 billion in Amazon shares in the settlement, making her one of the world's richest women. On Friday, Bezos got married again, this time to helicopter pilot and former journalist Lauren Sánchez. Experts in family law and wealth management told Business Insider that the couple is almost certain to have a complex prenup. Bezos is, after all, worth more than $200 billion today. A representative for Bezos didn't respond to a request for comment from BI about whether the couple has a prenup. Anne Paape, the managing director and head of wealth strategy at Cresset Capital, a multi-family office for entrepreneurs and multi-generational families of wealth, said prenups are generally becoming more common and are sometimes even mandated in family trusts for the ultrawealthy. Prenups begin with both people fully disclosing their financial assets and debts, she said. Besides family, they can also involve everyone from business partners and tax attorneys to luxury realtors and aviation experts who help appraise homes and private jets, said Brooke Summerhill, a divorce financial consultant who primarily works with ultra-high net worth clients. "It's not the clients making a lot of these decisions, it's their team helping them understand what those decisions are and making those decisions with them," she told BI. Paape doesn't know the details of Bezos' potential prenup but said his situation isn't entirely unique: Many superrich weddings mark second or third marriages for at least one spouse, often one whose assets have changed considerably since their first time tying the knot. "He will absolutely have protection against anything that he could," Summerhill said, adding that he likely won't let his pre-marriage assets co-mingle with Sánchez's assets. The more money you have, the more potential prenup headaches you'll have, especially when it comes to business interests and properties. Wealthy clients tend to have properties and business interests around the globe, making it harder to ensure compliance with divorce and death laws in various jurisdictions. Many entrepreneurs like Bezos are focused on insulating their businesses in the event of a divorce or death. Most don't want to risk giving an ex-partner enough stock to have a say in how the company runs, Paape told BI. "You could try to compensate for keeping that off the table," Paape said. "What else if you were to get divorced? What other resources could you provide to that person?" Clauses safeguarding the appreciation of assets during a marriage are also key for wealthy clients, Summerhill said. If the couple ever divorces, it's not unlikely that Sánchez would get a lump sum, Amazon shares, and some real estate, according to Summerhill and Raymond Hekmat, a family law attorney in Beverly Hills who primarily writes prenups. But a marriage can also end in death, and that's where a death clause can come in. As Summerhill put it, this "prevents the surviving spouse from claiming a bigger portion of that deceased person's separate property." A surviving spouse commonly receives a lump sum or life insurance payout upon their spouse's death, she said, but a last will and testament may take precedent over the prenup. Prenups for the ultrawealthy have repercussions beyond the couple, whether it's about who takes over the family empire or gets the keys to the Hamptons home. "There's more people that care about the resolution of that breakup, whether it's divorce or death," Paape said. "It's business partners, it's employees, it's charities you support, it's children and grandchildren." She said trusts "are a no-brainer " for children of the ultrarich and that many provisions deal with inherited property or business ownership. Bezos shares four children with Scott, and Sánchez has three kids. Hekmat said all the prenups he draws up have a confidentiality provision, and some can include social media restrictions. "In the event of a breakup, you can't disparage the other party or discuss the prenup in any way with the public, and there could be penalties involved," he said. Prenups can also include sunset clauses, which say that some provisions or even the full agreement expires after a certain period of time. Some people may choose to change certain provisions and become more generous after they've been with their spouse for a while, Paape said. Hekmat said that even with prenups, couples risk messy legal and financial fights down the line. Proclaimed love and devotion aside, he kept his advice for the Bezoses of the world simple. "My bottom line for billionaires is don't get married." Have a tip or a story to share about your own experiences with a prenup? Contact these reporters via email at atecotzky@ or sjackson@ or on Signal at alicetecotzky.05. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Relationship Timeline Ahead of Their Expensive Venice Wedding
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez have been by each other's side for years. The couple got engaged in May 2023 while vacationing in Europe. 'When he opened the box, I think I blacked out a bit,' she told Vogue in November 2023. Two years later, Bezos and Sánchez are reportedly exchanging vows in June 2025 with under 200 guests in attendance. As for whether she would be taking the Amazon founder's last name after marriage, Sánchez noted that it was not even a thought. 'Uh, yes, 100 percent,' she told Vogue in November 2023. 'I am looking forward to being Mrs. Bezos.' Bezos was previously married to ex-wife MacKenzie Scott, with whom he shares four children, while Sánchez shares son Nikko with ex-boyfriend Tony Gonzalez and son Evan and daughter Ella with ex-husband Patrick Whitesell. Scroll down to see Bezos and Sánchez's relationship timeline: Lauren Sanchez and Tony Gonzalez's Relationship Timeline: From Exes to Coparents and Friends Multiple outlets reported in early 2019 that Bezos and Sánchez began pursuing a romance. Bezos proposed to Sánchez while the couple were traveling in Europe. Sánchez celebrated Bezos' milestone birthday with a series of photos, including a throwback photo of the Amazon founder and a black-and-white image of the couple. 'Look who's turning 60! Happy birthday, baby! 🎉 ,' she wrote via Instagram. 'Today is another day where your laughter fills our home, and that smile of yours lights up every room. Wishing you an abundance of simple joys and quiet moments of happiness. May this year be filled with everything you love, from peaceful mornings to joyous celebrations. I hope each day brings you countless reasons to smile, just like you give me a reason to smile every single day. Love you, and happy birthday, my love. ❤️🤍❤️.' Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's Intimate Las Vegas Wedding: Everything to Know About the Guests, Dresses and More Sánchez gushed that she's in the process of planning her nuptials with Bezos. 'I have to say, I do have a Pinterest,' Sánchez joked during a November 2024 appearance on Today. 'I'm just like every other bride.' Bezos honored his wife on her birthday while sharing a photo of the duo smiling. 'What an incredible year — you set your mind to writing a children's book and now you're a NYT best selling author,' he wrote via Instagram. 'I have a feeling your next trip around the sun will be just as amazing. Happy birthday, baby!' Bezos and Sánchez kicked off their wedding week in June 2025 before tying the knot in Venice, Italy. A source told Us that the couple exchanged vows in a 'beautiful and low-key' ceremony.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez are one of the richest married couples. Here's how the ultrawealthy do prenups.
With Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez now married, they're likely to have a complex prenup. Lawyers and wealth management experts outlined the prenup process for the superrich. Business control, property ownership, and trusts are just some of the questions prenups tackle. Hindsight is 20/20 — especially when hindsight is worth $38 billion. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott, his first wife, got married without a prenup (in 1993, before Bezos started Amazon). Scott received roughly $38 billion in Amazon shares in the settlement, making her one of the world's richest women. On Friday, Bezos got married again, this time to helicopter pilot and former journalist Lauren Sánchez. Experts in family law and wealth management told Business Insider that the couple is almost certain to have a complex prenup. Bezos is, after all, worth more than $200 billion today. A representative for Bezos didn't respond to a request for comment from BI about whether the couple has a prenup. Anne Paape, the managing director and head of wealth strategy at Cresset Capital, a multi-family office for entrepreneurs and multi-generational families of wealth, said prenups are generally becoming more common and are sometimes even mandated in family trusts for the ultrawealthy. Prenups begin with both people fully disclosing their financial assets and debts, she said. Besides family, they can also involve everyone from business partners and tax attorneys to luxury realtors and aviation experts who help appraise homes and private jets, said Brooke Summerhill, a divorce financial consultant who primarily works with ultra-high net worth clients. "It's not the clients making a lot of these decisions, it's their team helping them understand what those decisions are and making those decisions with them," she told BI. Paape doesn't know the details of Bezos' potential prenup but said his situation isn't entirely unique: Many superrich weddings mark second or third marriages for at least one spouse, often one whose assets have changed considerably since their first time tying the knot. "He will absolutely have protection against anything that he could," Summerhill said, adding that he likely won't let his pre-marriage assets co-mingle with Sánchez's assets. The more money you have, the more potential prenup headaches you'll have, especially when it comes to business interests and properties. Wealthy clients tend to have properties and business interests around the globe, making it harder to ensure compliance with divorce and death laws in various jurisdictions. Many entrepreneurs like Bezos are focused on insulating their businesses in the event of a divorce or death. Most don't want to risk giving an ex-partner enough stock to have a say in how the company runs, Paape told BI. "You could try to compensate for keeping that off the table," Paape said. "What else if you were to get divorced? What other resources could you provide to that person?" Clauses safeguarding the appreciation of assets during a marriage are also key for wealthy clients, Summerhill said. If the couple ever divorces, it's not unlikely that Sánchez would get a lump sum, Amazon shares, and some real estate, according to Summerhill and Raymond Hekmat, a family law attorney in Beverly Hills who primarily writes prenups. But a marriage can also end in death, and that's where a death clause can come in. As Summerhill put it, this "prevents the surviving spouse from claiming a bigger portion of that deceased person's separate property." A surviving spouse commonly receives a lump sum or life insurance payout upon their spouse's death, she said, but a last will and testament may take precedent over the prenup. Prenups for the ultrawealthy have repercussions beyond the couple, whether it's about who takes over the family empire or gets the keys to the Hamptons home. "There's more people that care about the resolution of that breakup, whether it's divorce or death," Paape said. "It's business partners, it's employees, it's charities you support, it's children and grandchildren." She said trusts "are a no-brainer " for children of the ultrarich and that many provisions deal with inherited property or business ownership. Bezos shares four children with Scott, and Sánchez has three kids. Hekmat said all the prenups he draws up have a confidentiality provision, and some can include social media restrictions. "In the event of a breakup, you can't disparage the other party or discuss the prenup in any way with the public, and there could be penalties involved," he said. Prenups can also include sunset clauses, which say that some provisions or even the full agreement expires after a certain period of time. Some people may choose to change certain provisions and become more generous after they've been with their spouse for a while, Paape said. Hekmat said that even with prenups, couples risk messy legal and financial fights down the line. Proclaimed love and devotion aside, he kept his advice for the Bezoses of the world simple. "My bottom line for billionaires is don't get married." Have a tip or a story to share about your own experiences with a prenup? Contact these reporters via email at atecotzky@ or sjackson@ or on Signal at alicetecotzky.05. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely. Read the original article on Business Insider
Hindustan Times
13 hours ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Who are Jeff Bezos' four children? All about his kids with ex-wife MacKenzie Scott
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos got married to Lauren Sanchez in Venice on Friday. The couple tied the knot on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore and celebrated their special day by hosting several big names such as Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Orlando Bloom. Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Karlie Kloss, Queen Rania of Jordan, as well as fashion designers Diane von Fürstenberg, Tommy Hilfiger, and Domenico Dolce were also present. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has four children with ex-wife MacKenzie Scott, whose details remain private. REUTERS/Manuel Silvestri(REUTERS) One of the world's richest persons, Bezos, shares three sons and a daughter with his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott. Here's all you need to know about them. Also read: Who is Mark Bezos? Jeff Bezos' rarely seen half-brother shines at Venice wedding as he resembles to This Hollywood star Who are Jeff Bezos' four children? Bezos was previously married to MacKenzie Scott, and the two got divorced in 2019. Over the years, the Amazon founder has given high priority to the privacy of his children. He has shared that their eldest son was born in 2000 and is named Preston. Notably, Jeff Bezos' middle name is Preston. He and Scott gave this name to their eldest child. The moniker got passed on from his great-grandfather, Lloyd Preston Gise, to his grandfather, Lawrence Preston Gise. According to USA Today, the names and birth dates of his two other sons and one daughter have never been made public. Earlier, it was revealed that Bezos was dependent on Scott, a novelist, to raise his children when he was busy working on Amazon. In a 2013 interview with Vogue, she said that kids have an 'urgent need to be taken care of.' She noted that she was unable to continue writing after the third child, as "those years were just too busy." Bezos has often spoken about how his father, Miguel 'Mike', served as a major inspiration for him. At a May 2022 event, he said that people can find "deep optimism and a deep resilience" in every immigrant. To date, there is very little information known about Bezos and Scott's four children as they live out of the spotlight. In July 2016, the former couple had made a rare public appearance with their children as they stepped out to attend the premiere of Star Trek Beyond. Preston even accompanied his father to the American Portrait Gala, which took place at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in 2019. FAQs 1. How many biological children does Jeff Bezos have? Bezos shares four children with his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott. 2. Who is Jeff Bezos' new wife? He is now married to Lauren Sanchez. 3. Who has custody of Lauren Sanchez's kids? She shares joint physical custody of her son Evan and daughter Ella with her former husband, Patrick Whitesell. She also has a son, Nikko, with ex Tony Gonzalez.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Who Are Jeff Bezos' 4 Kids? All About His Children With Ex-Wife MacKenzie Scott
Jeff Bezos shares four children with his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott The Amazon founder has kept his children's lives private and only shared one of their names Bezos and his children made a rare public outing in 2016While Jeff Bezos is known across the world for founding Amazon, he's also a dad to four children. The businessman shares three sons and one daughter with his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott. While the two have been divorced since 2019, he's set to marry his fiancée, Lauren Sánchez, in June. The couple, who have been engaged since May 2023, will walk down the aisle in Italy, but Bezos hasn't shared how his children will be involved. The Amazon founder has prioritized his children's privacy over the years and has only shared that his oldest son, who was born in 2000, is named Preston and that he adopted a daughter from China. However, Bezos has not revealed the names or birthdates of his three younger children. When the kids were growing up, the entrepreneur depended on Scott, a novelist, to raise the kids full-time while he built Amazon from the ground up. "Writing is such a 'pretend' profession," she told Vogue in 2013. "Nobody is counting on you at all. You can't 'pretend' to be a lawyer or a teacher. It takes a lot of grit to continue. Kids, on the other hand, have an urgent need to be taken care of. After the third child, I knew I couldn't be the kind of parent I wanted to be and continue writing. Those years were just too busy." From their rare public family outing to the advice they received from their billionaire father, here's everything to know about Jeff Bezos' children. Bezos' middle name is Preston — the name he and Scott gave their oldest child. The moniker was passed down from Bezos' great-grandfather, Lloyd Preston Gise, to his grandfather, Lawrence Preston Gise, before him, so it's a significant nod to their family history. Bezos often speaks about how much his father, Cuban immigrant Miguel "Mike" Bezos, inspired him throughout his life. While paying tribute to him at the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Awards in May 2022, Bezos revealed how his dad serves as his role model. "I think in every immigrant you'll find a deep optimism and a deep resilience too," he said in a video from the event. "My dad is an intense hard worker. My dad is warm and he teaches an easy smile. My brother and sister and I could not have had a better role model." Little is known about Bezos and Scott's four kids. The executive chairman has shared few details about his family life, though he and Scott did make a rare public appearance with their children at the premiere of Star Trek Beyond in July 2016. All three of the pair's sons and their daughter joined them for the event, where they posed for a family photo on the red carpet. Bezos' oldest child Preston also accompanied him to the American Portrait Gala at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in 2019, where the father-son duo smiled for a picture together. Like many successful entrepreneurs, Bezos is an early riser. However, that doesn't mean he's all business first thing when he wakes up. "I like to putter in the mornings," he told the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., at an event in September 2018, according to CNBC. "I like to read the newspaper, I like to have coffee, I like to have breakfast with my kids before they go to school," he continued. "My puttering time is very important to me." As for the evening, Bezos made sure to leave some time in his schedule for family chores. "I do the dishes every night," he said during a 2014 interview. "I'm pretty convinced it's the sexiest thing I do." At a 2018 gala for global nonprofit FIRST, Bezos shared the best advice he's given his kids when it comes to their careers. "Whatever you do, choose something you can bring passion to," he said. The Amazon founder added that following your passion is advice he'd give to any young person. "That's going to make it easier for you to make that choice to work hard," he added, per CNBC. Bezos also admitted that figuring out his own interests took longer than he thought. "I thought I wanted to be a scientist when I went to Princeton," he explained. "I thought I wanted to be a physicist and halfway through, I figured out I wasn't smart enough to be a physicist." Through trial and error, however, Bezos was able to discover what he was truly passionate about. "You've gotta figure out what you love," he concluded. "And it's going to bring you great joy." From a young age, Bezos and Scott encouraged their kids to get dirty and build things, even if it might have been a little dangerous at times. Speaking at a SummitLA panel in November 2017, the entrepreneur said he allowed his kids to use knives at age 4 and power tools by 7 or 8, according to CNBC. Bezos explained that he grew up helping his grandfather fix things around the farm, which taught him resourcefulness — something he wanted to instill in his own children. "[My grandfather] would take on major projects that he didn't know how to do and then figure out how to do them," he said of the experience. "As a kid, I got to see him solve all these problems and be a real problem-solver." Scott agreed about the importance of letting their kids be self-sufficient. Bezos said she told him she "would much rather have a kid with nine fingers than a resourceless kid," something he called a "fantastic attitude about life." When Bezos and Scott ended their 25-year marriage in January 2019, their main priority was co-parenting their kids successfully. "We've had such a great life together as a married couple, and we also see wonderful futures ahead, as parents, friends, partners in ventures and projects, and as individuals pursuing ventures and adventures," Bezos wrote on X at the time. "Though the labels might be different, we remain a family, and we remain cherished friends." Four months later, the pair finished divvying up their assets and finalizing the divorce. "Grateful to have finished the process of dissolving my marriage with Jeff with support from each other and everyone who reached out to us in kindness, and looking forward to next phase as co-parents and friends," Scott wrote on X in April 2019. "I'm grateful for [MacKenzie's] support and for her kindness in this process and am very much looking forward to our new relationship as friends and co-parents," Bezos posted on X the same day. Read the original article on People
