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Jeff Bezos in VeniceMega yacht "Koru" serves as exclusive wedding shuttle

Martin Hager

, Leonie Meyer

 · 04.04.2025

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez celebrate their wedding in Venice in June.
Photo: dpa/pa
Venice will be transformed into a wedding city in June: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez are reserving five luxury hotels and almost the entire fleet of water taxis for the three-day celebration in June.
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Jeff Bezos currently owns 133.7 billion dollars less than Elon Musk (as of 31 March) according to the real-time ranking of the richest people, which is constantly updated by the media creators at Forbes. This makes the 61-year-old Amazon founder the second wealthiest person in the world, just ahead of meta-boss Mark Zuckerberg with €199.5 billion. So it's no wonder that the announced wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez is causing quite a stir in the media.

61-year-old Jeff Bezos and 55-year-old journalist and children's book author Lauren Sánchez have apparently spared no expense or effort for their celebrations from 24 to 26 June. The Italian lagoon city is facing a state of emergency, as the couple have reserved almost the entire infrastructure for their guests.

Arrival with superyacht "Koru" planned

However, this news would not be relevant for water sports fans if yachts did not play a major role in the wedding ceremony. Gossip on the scene suggests that both the 125-metre Oceanco three-master "Koru" and owner Bezos' 75-metre supply vessel "Abeona", which travels as a shadow, will be integrated into the celebrations.

Jeff Bezos proposed to his girlfriend Lauren Sanchéz two years ago on board "Koru". In Maori, the language of the indigenous people of New Zealand, the name means "new beginning". This is what Bezos and Sanchéz now want to do: according to the US television station CNN, the Amazon founder got down on one knee in front of his partner on board off the coast of southern France. Paparazzi shots showed the happy fiancée on the teak railing and in the tender of "Abeona" with the engagement ring on her hand. Now the vows are to be exchanged on the impressive Dykstra design. Receptions are also to be held on the two floating giants and they are to act as guest shuttles.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez book water taxi fleet

According to reports in the Italian newspaper "La Repubblica", the Bezos/Sanchéz couple have reserved Venice's entire fleet of water taxis and the five leading five-star hotels in the lagoon city for the period from 26 to 29 June, which speaks against the shuttle theory. The Gritti Palace, Hotel Danieli, Aman Venice, Belmond Hotel Cipriani and The St. Regis Venice have been booked for the 250 or so invited guests.

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Celebrities on the guest list

Although the official guest list is not yet known, the couple's engagement party in Beverly Hills two years ago gives an idea of which celebrities could be expected in Venice. Possible guests include Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian and Tobey Maguire. The participation of US President Donald Trump is also not ruled out, as Bezos and Sánchez were present at his swearing-in ceremony at the White House.

In any case, the city can expect an exceptional weekend with an extremely high density of private jets and a large security presence. It can be assumed that some VIPs on the guest list will also be travelling with their own gigayacht. The wedding of Bezos and Sánchez is also likely to provide a significant economic boost for Venice. Mayor Luigi Brugnaro is expecting revenue of several million euros.

Martin Hager

Martin Hager

Editor in Chief YACHT

Martin Hager is editor-in-chief of the titles YACHT and BOOTE EXCLUSIV and has been working for Delius Klasing Verlag for 20 years. He was born in Heidelberg in 1978 and started sailing at the age of six, in an Opti of course. This was soon followed by 420s, Sprinta Sport and 470s, which he also sailed on the regatta course with his brother. His parents regularly took him on charter trips through the Greek and Balearic Islands. Even at a young age, it was clear to him that he wanted to turn his passion for water sports into a career. After graduating from high school and completing an internship at the Rathje boatbuilding company in Kiel, it was clear that he did not want to become a classic boatbuilder. Instead, he successfully studied shipbuilding and marine engineering in the Schleswig-Holstein state capital and focused on yacht design wherever he could. His diploma thesis dealt with the “Testing of a new speed prediction method for sailing yachts”. In 2004, the superyacht magazine BOOTE EXCLUSIV was looking for an editor with technical and nautical background knowledge, a position that was perfect for Martin Hager. The application was successful and a two-year traineeship was arranged. After twelve years as an editor, the editorial team changed and he took over responsibility for BOOTE EXCLUSIV as editor-in-chief in 2017. After long-time YACHT editor-in-chief Jochen Rieker moved to the role of publisher, Martin Hager also took over the position of editor-in-chief of Europe's largest sailing magazine YACHT, which is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year, at the beginning of 2023. When he's not working on topics for the two water sports titles, Martin Hager likes to go out on the water himself - preferably with kite and wingfoil equipment or on a little after-work trip across the Alster.

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