Venice says no to Bezos

Tech tycoon’s wedding extravaganza continues to face backlash

Celebrities in superyachts sail into Venice this week for the three-day wedding party of Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, despite irate locals who say the UNESCO city is no billionaire’s playground.

The tech magnate and journalist have reportedly invited about 200 guests to their multi-million dollar nuptials in the Italian city, which are expected to kick off on Thursday and end on Saturday with a ceremony at a secret location.

The security details are under tight wraps amid rumours the rite may take place at the historic Church of the Abbey of Misericordia, or at the Arsenale, a vast shipyard complex dating back to when the city was a naval powerhouse.

Bezos, 61, and former news anchor and entertainment reporter Sanchez, 55, are said to have booked out the city’s finest hotels for a star-studded guest list rumoured to include Leonardo DiCaprio, Mick Jagger, Kim Kardashian, Oprah Winfrey, Orlando Bloom and Ivanka Trump.

At least 95 private planes have requested permission to land at Venice’s Marco Polo airport, the Corriere della Sera said.

And Bezos’ mega-yacht, Koru, is likely to moor off the iconic San Giorgio Maggiore island, which sits just opposite St Mark’s Square and has reportedly been booked in its entirety for the period.

Star-studded

The lavish celebration has sparked much soul-searching in Venice, where some fear so many A-list guests and their entourages will make life worse in a city already drowning under the weight of holidaymakers.

Around 100,000 tourists overnight in peak periods, while tens of thousands descend just for the day, many hopping off cruise ships for a quick Bellini cocktail, while the city steadily depopulates.

Venice happily hosted the star-studded nuptials of Hollywood actor George Clooney 11 years ago but protesters say Bezos – one of the world’s richest men and founder of a company regularly scrutinised for how it treats its workers – is different.

As environmentalists questioned the guests’ carbon footprint, Greenpeace slammed billions spent on hedonistic partying while the fragile city is “sinking under the weight of the climate crisis”.

Sanchez has also been criticised for saying more must be done to tackle climate change while also taking part in a space flight in April on a rocket developed by Bezos’s space company Blue Origin.

Activists unfurled a giant banner in St Mark’s on Monday, with a picture of Bezos laughing and a sign reading: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax”.

‘Private ballroom’

Built on islands in a lagoon, the city has imposed a controversial ticket policy for day-trippers but locals say more must be done to protect local businesses and tackle the housing crisis.