Why Did Jeff Bezos & MacKenzie Scott Divorce & Did He Cheat?

Jeff Bezos is onto his second marriage, however why did he and his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, divorce within the first place? Effectively, it may do together with his romance together with his new partner: Lauren Sanchez.

Why did Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott divorce?

Bezos and Scott introduced their divorce on January 9, 2019, after 25 years of marriage. “We’ve had such an ideal life collectively as a married couple, and we additionally see great futures forward, as dad and mom, pals, companions in ventures and tasks, and as people pursuing ventures and adventures,” Bezos tweeted on the time. “Although the labels is likely to be totally different, we stay a household, and we stay cherished pals.”

Associated: All of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s wedding ceremony visitors

The day after, information broke that Bezos and Scott didn’t have a prenuptial settlement earlier than their marriage, that means that Scott could be entitled to half of Bezos’ $137 billion web value. (In the long run, Scott obtained a reported $38 billion in Amazon inventory, in addition to a 4 % stake within the firm, making her divorce settlement probably the most costly in historical past.)

However why did Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott divorce? In January 2019, The Nationwide Enquirer reported that Bezos cheated on Scott together with his now-wife and former Fox anchor, Lauren Sanchez. The tabloid claimed that it had been monitoring Bezos for 4 months “throughout 5 states and 40,000 miles” earlier than he introduced his divorce from Scott. The publication additionally alleged that it had proof of Bezos “whisking his mistress off to unique locations on his $65 million non-public jet.”

Whereas Bezos didn’t deny the romance between him and Sanchez (whom he later married in 2025) on the time, his lawyer countered rumors that he had cheated on MacKenzie and informed the Nationwide Enquirer that it was “broadly recognized” that Bezos and MacKenzie had been “lengthy separated” by the point he began seeing Sanchez. (Sanchez, for her half, was additionally nonetheless married to her ex-husband, Patrick Whitesell, amid rumors each she and Bezos cheated on their spouses. Sanchez and Whitesell divorced in 2019.)

The Nationwide Enquirer, for its half, claimed that its reporting was what led Bezos to publicly announce his divorce from MacKenzie. “The Nationwide Enquirer has been doggedly investigating this story for 4 months and the extraordinary particulars and proof uncovered by our crew, and introduced to Mr. Bezos’ representatives for remark early this week, underscores the sort of investigative reporting that the publication has lengthy been recognized for,” a spokesperson for the journal informed CNN.

Brad Stone, the creator of Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a World Empire
, additionally maintained that Bezos had cheated on Scott with Sanchez. Within the guide, Stone even included an alleged dialog between Bezos and an government at Amazon, the place he seemingly confirmed his romance with Sanchez.

“Simply to set the report straight, I did have a relationship with this girl,” Bezos informed executives, in line with an excerpt of the guide revealed by The New York Put up. “However the story is totally incorrect and out of order. MacKenzie and I’ve had good, wholesome grownup conversations about it. She is okay. The children are advantageous. The media is having a discipline day. All of that is very distracting, so thanks for being centered on the enterprise.”

Stone additionally reported that dozens of Amazon workers had been “shocked and disillusioned by Bezos’ affair.” “Their infallible and righteous chief was, in spite of everything, a flawed human,” he wrote.

As for the way the affair was found, Stone claimed that it wasn’t till Bezos, who was often “guarded” about his “intact marriage” with Scott, turned distracted at work and more durable to find that workers at Amazon took word. Stone, particularly, wrote that Amazon executives knew one thing was up as soon as helicopters, which Bezos famously hated, turned an obsession of his. Sanchez, for her half, is the proprietor of the helicopter firm Black Ops Aviation and a helicopter pilot in her personal proper.

Amazon executives had been reportedly “perplexed” after they seen the funds adjustments for Black Ops, which led them to analyze his affair.

Since their divorce, Scott remarried with science trainer Dan Jewett, whom she divorced in 2023. Scott and Bezos share 4 kids: three sons and one daughter. Sanchez, for her half, has one son together with her ex-boyfriend, Tony Gonzalez, and two kids together with her ex-husband, Patrick Whitesell.