Amazon founder Jeff Bezos engaged to Lauren Sanchez

Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has reportedly proposed to his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, whom he had been dating for around five years.

The high profile couple has been travelling the world together since they first made their relationship public soon after Bezos finalised his divorce from Mackenzie Scott in January 2019. Bezos and Scott were married for 25 years, and founded Amazon together. Their divorce shocked the business community, but Bezos was quick to put the past behind him and move on with Sanchez.

Reports of a possible engagement started circulating since way back in late 2019 when Sanchez was seen sporting a massive heart-shaped diamond on her ring finger. However, those speculations remained unfounded. Now, Page Six has revealed that the couple has gotten engaged.

They are currently sailing in the south of France aboard a $500 million superyacht, where Sanchez, 53, was again seen wearing a massive diamond. They are in the area for the Cannes Film Festival and to attend a number of social events in the French Riviera.

The 59-year-old billionaire may have finally put a ring on it after nearly five years. It is believed that the pair met and may have started being romantically involved in 2018 while they were both still technically married to other people at least on paper.

Bezos was married to Scott, with whom he shares four children. The couple were married back when neither of them had significant assets, and built Amazon together from the ground up. They did not have a prenuptial agreement, and Scott got $38 billion in the divorce settlement. It is a huge fortune, but only a fraction of her ex-husband's net worth which is estimated to be around $139 billion including his stakes at the Washington Post and space company Blue Origin.

However, the divorce was finalised quickly and without any dispute and Scott even pledged to donate half her fortune to charity. After the divorce, Scott became the third richest woman in the world even after taking only a quarter of the joint Amazon stock she owned with Bezos. She also confirmed that Bezos would keep voting control over her shares.

In a statement shared after the divorce, Scott said that she was grateful to have finished the divorce process and she was "happy to be giving [Bezos] all of my interests in the Washington Post and Blue Origin, and 75% of our Amazon stock plus voting control of my shares to support his continued contributions with the teams of these incredible companies."

Meanwhile, Sanchez was separated from but still technically married to Hollywood talent mogul Patrick Whitesell when she started her relationship with Bezos. They finalised their divorce in October 2019, months after the Bezos couple. The entertainment reporter and news anchor has a 22-year-old son with former NFL player Tony Gonzalez and shares two teenage children with Whitesell.

Sanchez has since immersed herself fully in the life of the Amazon founder, who will soon become her husband if the engagement reports are to be believed. She has even confirmed that she will go to space as part of Blue Origin's upcoming projects.

With news of the upcoming nuptials in the air, it is worth noting that Scott had already remarried and divorced since her split from Bezos, She tied the knot with teacher Dan Jewett in March 2021, but filed for divorce less than two years later. It is understood that she may have had a prenup this time around.

Many are wondering exactly how Bezos, one of the wealthiest men in the world, plans to protect his assets now that it seems clear he is hell bent on tying the knot with Sanchez. His divorce from his first wife cost him billions of dollars, and it remains to be seen if he will protect his assets with a bullet-proof prenup this time around. With such a large fortune involved, it is only natural for such questions to be asked by the public. However, the couple seems to be completely loved-up, and many are waiting to see how the story plays out.