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Exclusive! Inside Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos’s Beverly Hills Engagement Party

By Lilah Ramzi

On the eve of her Vogue debut , Lauren Sánchez and her fiancé, Jeff Bezos, were fêted with an engagement party. And like all things the couple does, the event was not to be ignored. The venue? Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg’s Beverly Hills home. Diller and von Furstenberg, as two of the couple’s closet friends, played host, welcoming Oprah Winfrey, Salma Hayek Pinault, Barbra Streisand , Kris Jenner, Sarah Staudinger, Robert Pattinson, Suki Waterhouse, Miranda Kerr, and more to the engagement party.

Sánchez wore an off-the-shoulder Laura Basci mini dress with a basque waistline and a custom-made layered Lorraine Schwartz cross necklace. Bezos wore a light-colored blazer over a T-shirt. Basci, a Swiss designer who most recently dressed Gwyneth Paltrow at the CFDA Awards , has an atelier in Los Angeles. Upon seeing the dress, Sánchez knew it was the one.

At dinner, where long tables were set with meadowy arrangements of dahlias, Winfrey proffered her signature affection, embracing the bride-to-be. Kris Jenner, dressed in Chanel, posed for pictures with Staud designer Sarah Staudinger. All were treated to a speech from Bezos, which was dedicated to his fiancée, and a performance from Jewel. “They’re very in love with each other—they’re demonstrably in love,” Diller told Vogue. “She’s lit him up in the nicest ways. She’s a great stimulant.”

Followers of the couple’s matrimonial timeline might recall an earlier engagement party held this summer on Bezos’s yacht, Koru, with attendees Leonardo DiCaprio, Bill Gates, and Queen Rania of Jordan. With one event held at sea, and the other held on land, the setting for their actual wedding is anyone’s guess. Our bet’s on outer space.

Lauren Sánchez and Oprah Winfrey

Kris Jenner, Veronica Grazer, Elsa Marie Collins, Lauren Sánchez, Salma Hayek Pinault

Sarah Staudinger, Kris Jenner

Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sánchez, Diane von Furstenberg, Barry Diller

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What Does Bill Gates Get Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez on the Occasion of Their Engagement?

By Kenzie Bryant

Jeff Bezos, a man with a plan, and Lauren Sánchez, his “alive girl” of several years, are getting married. On Wednesday, they celebrated with an engagement party off the coast of beautiful Positano on Italy’s Amalfi Coast, the land of hills and Aperol spritzes. It’s a fine place to drop the anchor of one’s $500 million yacht after bopping around the Mediterranean for months. You can say a lot of things about Jeff Bezos, but you can’t accuse him of neglecting his shiny new toy. He and Sanchez have been using that yacht. 

The engagement celebration on the top deck was “intimate” according to Page Six . Just Bill Gates, his girlfriend, Paula Hurd, Wendi Murdoch, a handful of other notable names, and presumably 30 to 40 staff, or however many Bezos employs to keep the lights on and the boat floating. A small gathering on the new whip checks out for the couple, who reportedly began dating before Bezos’s marriage to his first wife, the philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, was over. But I’d really love to know one thing: What does one man whose name is synonymous with a magnificent fortune give another on the occasion of his engagement? Bezos already has a yacht. He already has a small boat, the purpose of which is to carry people from land to the big boat. He has a newspaper and a whole company that builds and launches rockets! It launches rockets into space! 

I think we can assume that Bezos and Sánchez already have glassware that says “Mrs.” and “Mr.” They already have an ice bucket with their initials on it. They can’t eat anymore of those damn delicious Harry & David pears. So maybe Gates got a little creative. Maybe he gave Bezos his tabloid-photographed image. The paparazzi got close-up shots of Gates and his date, and yet, we have no idea what Bezos and Sanchez wore to their own party. Perhaps Gates sacrificed his own exposure for that of his peer. It would certainly be thoughtful. 

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They’re seeing red.

Lauren Sanchez assembled a star-studded squad of friends on fiance Jeff Bezos’ superyacht, the Koru, in St. Barts ahead of her 54th birthday Tuesday. 

“The day before my birthday I’m overwhelmed with love and gratitude to be celebrating with these incredible women who are such a big part of my life…These women are not just friends, I consider them family,” the former journalist captioned a photo on Instagram. 

Meet Sanchez’s power crew of entrepreneurs, actresses and philanthropists — almost all of whom, like Sanchez, have a very powerful man in their corner.

Lydia Kives 

Kives, 35, is married to Michael Kives, one of Hollywood’s best-connected men.

A Bill Clinton aide-turned CAA super-agent who represented Bruce Willis and Katy Perry, he is now an investor — although he is being sued for $700m over his links to fallen crypto-tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried.

The couple married in 2019 — she is a Stanford-educated attorney — after a friend set them up on a blind date in Los Angeles,  Vogue reported , and now have two children.

The Kives, Bezos and Sanchez vacationed jointly in 2019 just after news of the Amazon founder’s affair with Sanchez broke.

Nurse Jamie Sherrill

Sherrill, a Hollywood skincare expert who goes by Nurse Jamie, has worked with stars like Kyle Richards, Paris Hilton and Khloe Kardashian — and like Sanchez has a TV career.

She owns the Santa Monica medical spa Beauty Park and is the producer of her Netflix plastic surgery show “Skin Decision.”

The 51-year-old mom of triplets also has a line of anti-aging skincare products and beauty tools.

Elena Sanchez Blair

Sanchez’s younger sister Elena Sanchez Blair, 41, keeps a much lower profile than her older sibling.

The Seattle-based former nurse is a mom of four, now working as a family and newborn professional photographer . 

The two have a close relationship despite a 13-year age gap. The older Sanchez sister has called her younger sibling “her best friend,” and a “second mother” to her three children.

Elsa Collins

Collins, 43, is married to Jarron Collins, an NBA center who has become a coach after retiring. She grew up in Mexico and met Collins at Stanfordl. They now have four children.

A native of Tijuana, she co-founded This is About Humanity, which campaigns for families separated at the border; Sanchez donated $1 million in 2022.

She and Sanchez play pickleball together .

Veronica Grazer

Grazer, 50, is married to Hollywood and TV producer Brian Grazer. She became his third wife in Santa Monica in 2016 in a ceremony with Oprah Winfrey and Bob Iger in attendance.

Her husband and Bezos have moved in the same circles since Amazon moved into TV and movies, while she is a founding partner of a financial technology app aimed at helping low income families.

October Gonzalez

The actress, 43, known for roles in “Modern Family,” “The View” and “Play It Forward,” married former NFL star Tony Gonzalez, a former tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, in 2007.

They now have two children together.

Previously Gonzalez was in a relationship with Sanchez in 2000 and they share son, Nikko, 22. Sanchez has told how October is one of her best friends.

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Jeff Bezos' yacht reportedly cost $500 million and is the largest sailing yacht in the world. Here's what we know.

• Jeff Bezos ' new $500 million megayacht Koru set sail this summer.
• At 417 feet long, it's the world's largest sailing yacht and even boasts a sculpture resembling his fiancée, Lauren Sanchez.
• Here's everything we know about Bezos' yacht.

Jeff Bezos' new megayacht set sail this summer, with the founder and former Amazon CEO and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez crisscrossing Europe to show it off.

At 417 feet long, the vessel is the world's largest sailing yacht and cost an estimated $500 million. The yacht is named Koru , which means "loop" or "coil" in the Māori language and often signifies new beginnings.

Koru joins a large class of flashy billionaires' yachts , including the 305-foot-long Eos, which belongs to billionaire Barry Diller and fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg.

Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison owns a yacht called Musashi, which is 288 feet long.

Bezos commissioned the enormous boat from the Dutch custom yacht builder Oceanco, and it took years to construct.

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In February, the yacht underwent its first sea trials, a series of tests usually conducted in the last phases of construction. Koru made its maiden voyage in April, traveling from the Netherlands to Gibraltar.

The vessel has a pool on deck, and the prow features a mermaid sculpture that bears a striking resemblance to Bezos' then-girlfriend Sanchez. A second "support yacht," which has an on-deck helipad, accompanies Koru on its travels.

Sanchez has said the sculpture affixed to Bezos' yacht isn't her. "I'm very flattered, but it's not," she told Vogue. The sculpture is apparently of the Norse goddess Freyja, one of Bezos' favorite figures from mythology.

Bezos and Sanchez were first seen aboard the yacht along the coast of Spain in May, shortly before news broke that the couple had gotten engaged. The couple spent the rest of the summer on board traveling to various destinations, stopping at the Cannes Film Festival, sailing down the Italian Riviera, and making their way to Croatia.

In August, the yacht played host to an engagement party for Bezos and Sanchez , which reportedly drew guests including Bill Gates, Whitney Wolfe Herd, Ari Emanuel, and Leonardo DiCaprio.

While yacht season was apparently enjoyable for the couple, it was only after the vessel stirred up quite a bit of controversy: Koru's masts were so tall that the yacht nearly required the dismantling of a historic bridge in the Netherlands in order for it to pass through.

Locals planned to egg Bezos' superyacht if the bridge came down. Following the public outcry, Oceanco withdrew its request for the city to take apart the bridge.

And despite this massive purchase, Bezos' net worth is still well over $100 billion.

Watch: What it takes to build a 164-foot superyacht

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Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez host lavish engagement party aboard the billionaire's superyacht

Bill Gates, Wendi Murdoch and socialite Fabiola Beracasa Beckman were among the guests

Article content

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez held a lavish engagement party with a select group of friends aboard the billionaire’s US$500 million (about $669 million) superyacht on Wednesday.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez host lavish engagement party aboard the billionaire's superyacht Back to video

The Amazon founder, 59, and his 53-year-old media personality wife-to-be were joined by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his partner Paula Hurd, Wendi Murdoch — the ex-wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch — and socialite Fabiola Beracasa Beckman for the “intimate” affair aboard the Bezos’ beloved Kora in the breathtaking Positano, Italy, according to Page Six.

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Last week, Jeff and Lauren sailed around Capri in the luxury vessel — which features a sculpture on the bow that looks like his partner. Jeff proposed to the former broadcaster aboard Kora off the coast of Cannes in May.

The loved-up pair were sailing around the Mediterranean on the superyacht and Lauren was seen with a dazzling diamond ring on her wedding ring finger as they docked in Cannes and packed on the PDA.

A source told the New York Post’s Page Six column at the time: “They were all over each other. I mean, they’re always affectionate, but they could not keep their hands off each other.”

Another said: “They were telling everyone they were engaged, they were so excited, they are completely in love.”

A source speculated about their wedding: “I can’t imagine it will be quiet — I think it will be a Who’s Who of people.”

Jeff and Lauren have been dating since 2019, but first met in 2016, while she was still married to Patrick Whitesell, who introduced the pair, and the business magnate was with the mother of his four children, MacKenzie Scott Tuttle.

Lauren previously gave an insight into their romance and gushed that he has a “goofy” sense of humour.

The former reporter admitted it is always easy to find her partner if they get separated at parties because of his distinctive laugh and she’s always found him “really funny.”

She told the Wall Street Journal: “He’s really funny. He makes me laugh all the time. He can be goofy.

“When I first heard his laugh, I was like, ‘Whoa! What is that?’ Now I love it. And if I’m at a party and we get separated, all I have to do is wait a second and he laughs and it’s like, he’s over there.”

But it isn’t often the couple do get separated because Lauren admitted she and the businessman are “together all the time.”

She said: “We love to be together and we love to work together. We fly together. We work out together. We’re together all the time.”

Last November, the couple revealed Jeff plans to donate a significant portion of his $124 billion fortune to various charitable initiatives and Lauren is proud of his efforts.

She said: “Jeff has always told me, since I’ve known him, that he’s going to give the majority of his money to philanthropy.”

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Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Enjoy Beverly Hills Date Night at Pre-Oscars Dinner Party

The Amazon CEO and journalist have been dating since 2019 and engaged since 2023

Stefanie Keenan/WireImage

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez spent a night out with the stars!

On Saturday, the Amazon CEO and Emmy Award-winning journalist stepped out to attend the Chanel and Charles Finch Annual Pre-Oscar Dinner at Beverly Hills’ Polo Lounge.

At the event, a dinner for nominees, actors, filmmakers and more, the couple posed for photos together, showing off their sleek couple style.

For the Chanel-hosted event, which was also attended by Margot Robbie , Kristen Stewart and more, Bezos, 60, donned a sleek gray suit, which he layered over a black T-shirt and paired with buckled dress shoes.

Sánchez, 54, complemented her fiancé in a blingy, all-black look. The journalist wore a long-sleeve dress with a plunging V-neck and black pumps, and added sparkle with a stack of bracelets, layered chokers and a classic Chanel clutch.

She also sported a glossy lip courtesy of Chanel, as well as some skincare French fashion house, she revealed in an Instagram Story post.

In photos from the event, Bezos could be seen posing with his arm wrapped around Sánchez, whom he popped the question to last year .

The couple’s Beverly Hills date night comes on the heels of the billionaire and businesswoman’s move to Miami, which Bezos announced in November .

Last month, the couple was spotted settling into the Florida city, walking arm-in-arm on a daytime date at the Coconut Grove Arts Festival.

Bezos and Sánchez have been dating for over four years, and PEOPLE confirmed that the pair was engaged last May.

The news came as they were on vacation together in the South of France, where they attended the premiere of one of this year’s Oscar-nominated films, Killers of the Flower Moon, at the Cannes Film Festival.

At the time, a source told PEOPLE the couple was enjoying their new relationship status . "They're on cloud nine — so happy and madly in love,” the insider told PEOPLE.

" Her engagement ring is beyond stunning,” the source added. “And huge! She keeps playing with it and looking at it. You can tell she loves it.”

Never miss a story — sign up for  PEOPLE's free daily newsletter  to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Dolly Faibyshev/WWD via Getty

And the engaged couple, who enjoy frequent date nights and star-studded outings together, also gush about each other online.

In January, Sánchez dedicated a sweet Instagram post to Bezos on his birthday .

Alongside a collection of photos that included a picture of the businessman as a child and one of the couple together, she wrote, "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," Sánchez continued. "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.”

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Bill Gates and girlfriend Paula Hurd attend Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s engagement party

The celebrations reportedly took place onboard the amazon founder’s yacht in the amalfi coast, italy, article bookmarked.

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Bill Gates and his girlfriend Paul Hurd were among the guests who attended Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s engagement party on Wednesday (2 August).

The Amazon executive and billionaire, Bezos, 59 and former news anchor, Sánchez, 53, reportedly got engaged in May while on holiday in Cannes, France.

People reports that the celebration took place onboard the Amazon founder’s yacht in the Amalfi Coast, Italy. The Independent has contacted representatives of Bezos and Gates for comment.

According to the publication, Microsoft founder Gates, 67, was spotted wearing a grey tuxedo jacket and matching t-shirt, as he attended the event alongside Hurd.

Gates and Hurd reportedly began dating two years after the billionaire business mogul divorced his ex-wife Melinda French Gates in August 2021, after 27 years of marriage.

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The new couple were spotted out together on several occasions and sitting next to each other at sporting events. They were last photographed together in January during the Men’s final at the Australian Open.

At the time, a source told People : “It’s widely known that Bill Gates and Paula Hurd are dating, but she hasn’t met his kids yet.”

Gates shares three children with his ex-wife Melinda: Jennifer, 27, Rory, 24 and Phoebe, 20.

Bill Gates and Paula Hurd

Hurd was previously married to Mark Hurd, CEO of the software company Oracle, for 30 years until the businessman died in 2019 aged 62.

Meanwhile, Bezos and Sánchez made their relationship public in January 2019, following his divorce from MacKenzie Scott after 25 years of marriage.  The former couple share three sons and one daughter but keep their children’s lives private, with only the name of their eldest son, Preston, known to the public.

At the time, Sánchez was divorcing her ex-husband of 13 years, Patrick Whitesell, with whom she shares two children. Sánchez also has a son with former NFL star Tony Gonzalez.

Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos are seen on Jeff Bezos’ yacht in June 12

Last month, Bezos was seen snapping photos of his Sánchez aboard his new yacht as it travelled through Italy.

The couple took a trip to Portofino, Italy, last month on Bezos’ superyacht, Koru, which is reportedly worth $500m (£394m).

While aboard the large luxury boat, Bezos wore a black shirt and multi-coloured swim trunks, while his partner of five years wore a black bikini, which she paired with matching sunglasses.

Bezos, who is worth more than $148bn (£116.5bn) , also became Sánchez’s personal photographer. While leaning on the metal railing of the yacht, the 53-year-old appeared to pose in front of the iPhone her partner was holding.

People joked that Bezos is the world’s most overpaid “ Instagram boyfriend” – a term used to describe someone who frequently takes photos of their partner, typically at the partner’s request.

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Inside Jeff Bezos’ Engagement Party on His $500 Million Yacht

E very year, thousands of people celebrate their engagements with lavish parties, where they welcome family and friends to eat, drink, and be merry. Many parties are understated affairs, while others pull out all the stops in honor of their big life event. However, it’s likely that few engagement parties are quite as lavish as the massive event that Jeff Bezos and his wife-to-be, Lauren Sánchez, just hosted.

The Amazon CEO and his fiancée have been together since early 2019, announcing their romance immediately after the revelation that Bezos was splitting from his wife of several decades . These days, Bezos and Sánchez are prepping for their upcoming nuptials, with a party that made headlines around the world.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez just threw a huge engagement party

Bezos and Sánchez got engaged in May, announcing their intention to spend the rest of their lives together. The Amazon CEO and the journalist opted to celebrate their engagement in Italy, off the beautiful Amalfi Coast. As reported by People Magazine , the party was hosted on Bezos’ yacht, worth around $500 million.

The boat, dubbed Koru, is a stunner and is believed to be the largest sailing vessel in the world. While the boat itself is massive, it seems the gathering was kept quite small, reserved for a few close friends and family. As reported by Page Six , Bill Gates and his girlfriend, Paula Hurd, attended the party, along with Rupert Murdoch’s ex-wife, American entrepreneur Wendi Murdoch, and producer Fabiola Beracasa Beckman. The publication reports that some celebrities were at the party as well, including Kris Jenner and her partner, Corey Gamble.

When did Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez start dating?

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’: Jeff Bezos’ Son Begged Him Not to ‘Eff This Up’

Bezos and Sánchez’s relationship has drawn a great deal of attention from the beginning. The two were first linked in January 2019, after reportedly meeting through Sánchez’s ex-husband, Patrick Whitesell . As reported by Business Insider , Whitesell and the award-winning reporter had been separated for a few months before the romance with Bezos began.

Throughout the course of 2020, Bezos and Sánchez pursued their romance, even as fans gossiped about when the relationship actually started. If the chatter bothered the new couple, they didn’t let on, and in May 2023, they revealed that they were planning to get married.

Jeff Bezos announced his split from his first wife in January 2019

This is the second marriage for Bezos, who was with his first wife, MacKenzie Scott, for over 25 years. The power couple announced their split in January 2019, just hours before news of Bezos’ relationship with Sánchez went public. Bezos and his wife, who share four children, took to Twitter to post a joint statement. It read, in part: “As our family and close friends know, after a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends. If we had known we would separate after 25 years, we would do it all again.”

The couple finalized the terms of their divorce in April 2019. With MacKenzie Scott’s stake in Amazon , she officially became one of the richest women in the world. As for Bezos, he was free to pursue his romance with his journalist love. The high-powered pair, having just celebrated their engagement amongst those they love best, are now preparing to tie the knot. The wedding, sure to be a grand affair attended by A-list stars, will undoubtedly make headlines and draw a lot of attention.

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Bezos Throws Engagement Party On $500 Million Yacht Ahead Of Amazon's Earnings — Here's Who Was In Attendance (Including Bill Gates)

Zinger key points.

• Jeff Bezos is engaged to media personality Lauren Sanchez.
• The duo hosted an engagement party on their superyacht ahead of quarterly financial results from Amazon.com.

Shares of Amazon.com Inc AMZN soared Friday after the company reported second quarter financial results.

The increase in the value of Amazon shares, which neared 52-week highs, saw Chairman and former CEO Jeff Bezos increase his wealth by nearly $11 billion on Friday. The billionaire celebrated more than just Amazon’s quarterly results this week with a party thrown on his $500 million yacht off the coast of Italy.

What Happened: The superyacht Koru  caused controversy previously over its record-breaking size and a proposal to disassemble a historic bridge to help the boat get to the open sea.

After delays and controversy, Bezos took possession of Koru earlier this year. As Benzinga previously reported , the superyacht has a cost of $500 million, its own support boat and annual costs of $25 million.

On Wednesday, Bezos and fiancée Lauren Sanchez hosted an engagement party on the superyacht outside of Positano, Italy, according to Page Six. A source told Page Six that there was a small crowd in attendance and named several notable people who were included in the celebration.

Among the guests were:

Bill Gates and girlfriend Paula Hurd

Wendi Murdoch Ari Emanuel  and wife Sarah Staudinger Leonardo DiCaprio Tobey Maguire Andrew Garfield Rania Al Abdullah, Queen of Jordan Kris Jenner and boyfriend Corey Gamble

Fabiola Beracasa Beckman

Related Link: 5 Things You Might Not Know About Jeff Bezos

Why It’s Important: Bezos proposed to Sanchez in May after dating the media personality for five years. 

Page Six shared photos of some of the guests that attended the engagement party, but Bezos and Sanchez stayed out of the eye of the paparazzi during the event.

No wedding date has been set for the Amazon.com founder and his fiancée. Sources told PEOPLE that the couple have not started planning their wedding.

“They’re still just enjoying the engagement,” the source told PEOPLE.

Both Bezos and Sanchez were previously married.

Bezos is the third-richest person in the world with a wealth of $164 billion, according to Bloomberg . Bezos has gained $57 billion to his wealth year-to-date in 2023, trailing only Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg for the top gain this year. 

Read Next: If You Invested $1,000 In Amazon Stock At IPO, Here's How Much You'd Have Now 

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Jeff bezos & lauren sanchez throw another engagement party on yacht in italy; bill gates with girlfriend paula hurd, bumble ceo whitney wolfe herd, kris jenner attend.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez hosted a celebrity-filled engagement party on Bezos's $500 million super yacht in Italy. Kris Jenner, Whitney Wolfe Herd, Michael Kives, and Sarah Staudinger were among the guests in attendance.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lauren Sanchez (@laurenwsanchez)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kris Jenner (@krisjenner)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nikko G (@nikkogzz)

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Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeff Bezos, Drake ring in NYE on St. Barts yacht

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It was the place to be in St. Barts.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeff Bezos and partner Lauren Sanchez, plus Drake were just a few of the A-list names who partied at club king Richie Akiva, Ernesto Bertarelli, and Darren Dzienciol’s New Year’s Eve bash on the ritzy island.

We hear the night started with a dinner at Akiva’s, but then moved to Swiss billionaire Bertarelli’s $150 million, 315-foot yacht, Vava II, at around 1:30 a.m.

“Going Bad” rapper Meek Mill performed, while Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin and YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul got into the DJ booth to party while he played.

Mill, Page Six exclusively reported , is staying on Rubin’s yacht while in town.

Lil Baby also took the mic, performing for a crowd that included DiCaprio and girlfriend Camila Morrone, Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra, Dua Lipa, Mike Tyson, Scott Disick, Cuba Gooding Jr., TikTok star Dixie D’Amelio and WhatsApp founder Jan Koum, says a spy.

“It was mayhem,” says a source. “It went ’til 9 or 10 in the morning. Everybody on the island tried to come. Anyone who is anyone was there.”

We hear just about 500 guests made the cut.

We’re told Bezos, who posted a pic of himself from the night wearing heart-shaped sunglasses and a colorful button-down, came late with Sanchez following another bash. The pair were photographed last week smooching all over the island .

The Vava II was the site of another bash during the holiday week thrown by Akiva and Dzienciol, which served as the afterparty for the swanky LuisaViaRoma for UNICEF party at Eden Rock on Dec. 29. 

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Jeff Bezos’ New Yacht Is Finally Ready to Set Sail

Amazon’s founder has been spotted on Koru, a massive schooner with a design that evokes the golden age of sailing in the early 20th century.

By Kevin Koenig

Just in time for the high season of yachting in the Mediterranean, when multimillion-dollar megayachts descend on ports like Monte Carlo and St. Tropez, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, has been photographed with his partner Lauren Sánchez on his new boat, Koru, off the coast of Spain.

Mr. Bezos’ vessel is a sailing yacht, a departure from the diesel-powered, floating palaces popular with other billionaires. But it is still massive. At 417 feet, Koru is the world’s largest sailing yacht, according to Boat International , and it cost an estimated $500 million to build, Bloomberg reported . (Parsifal III, the boat featured on Bravo’s reality series “Below Deck Sailing Yacht,” is 177 feet long — less than half the length of Koru — and cost $18 million , according to the website SuperYachtFan.)

A spokesperson for Mr. Bezos did not comment for this article; neither did Oceanco, Koru’s builder. Here is what to know about the boat.

For traditionalists, Koru is refreshing. At a time when yacht design skews outrageous — see the lizardlike, 262-foot Artefact or the otherworldly 463-foot Yas — Koru stands out as a schooner, a sailing vessel with two or more masts. Photos reveal a large sailboat with three masts, an on-deck pool and a voluptuous mermaid on the bow, that bears a resemblance to Ms. Sánchez. But otherwise, the sleek, classic lines suggest the patrician age of yachting in the early 20th century, said Robert B. MacKay, author of “The Golden Age of Newport Yachting: Between the Wars.”

“With the clipper bow and the dark hull and the masts,” Mr. MacKay said, referring to Koru’s concave, pointy forward section, “it reminds me of a boat built in 1930 for J.P. Morgan Jr., Corsair IV. It is almost like a reincarnation. It’s certainly at odds with the stuff the oligarchs are building — those look like bloated Clorox bottles.”

Compared with the world’s very largest motor yachts — built for sheer size and the accompanying bragging rights — Koru could almost be considered quaint. Azzam, one of the world’s largest motor yachts, is nearly 200 feet longer.

The Experience

Koru will be propelled primarily by the wind. “Sailboats are usually greener than most powerboats,” said Don Anderson, a former captain of M5 , the world’s largest single-masted sailboat, at 256 feet. “I’d like to think that Koru will be one of the most ecological yachts out there, with its sails and also with the technology that will be aboard.”

“When you’re on a sailboat, you’re more in touch with the wind and the waves than on a powerboat,” he continued. “You’re more susceptible to the elements, too. But you can leave California, and once you get past the Catalinas you can basically surf downwind all the way to Hawaii. All you need to do is run with the waves.”

Mr. Bezos has been a guest on similar boats, according to Bloomberg: In 2019, he was spotted on Eos , a 305-foot sailing yacht owned by Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg.

Bill Tripp, a Connecticut-based naval architect, said the appeal of this type of boat is clear: “When you are on a powerboat, you ask, ‘Are we there yet?’ and on a sailboat, you’re enjoying the ride and the ocean so much that you don’t ask that question.”

Koru will be trailed by Abeona, a 246-foot support vessel. Superyachts often have support vessels following along behind them. These “shadows,” as they are colloquially known, are for the “toys” — the ATVs, supercars, seaplanes, motorcycles, smaller boats, scuba gear, personal submarines and even helicopters that pleasure boaters might bring on a trip. According to its builder, this model of boat can carry these gadgets along with dozens of crew members. (Ms. Sanchez flies helicopters, and the couple was recently photographed taking a helicopter to board Abeona and then Koru.)

Abeona, a motor yacht, will have enough range to follow Koru from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean — a common course for yachts — on a single tank of gas.

The Kerfuffle

Koru set off a controversy last year — before it was even completed — in a face-off with the Dutch city of Rotterdam. The boat was built at Oceanco’s facility in Alblasserdam, the Netherlands, and needed to pass the historic Koningshaven Bridge, known as “De Hef,” in Rotterdam, to undergo testing in the North Sea.

When the city announced it would dismantle the bridge to allow the boat and its mainmast — an estimated 230 feet tall — to pass through unscathed, locals were angry. They planned a protest to throw eggs at the yacht as it cruised by. In the end, the bridge was not taken apart, and the yacht was towed to a different location to have its masts attached.

Koru is Maori for “coil” or “loop” and refers to the unfurling of a fern frond. The koru design is common in traditional Maori art, where it symbolizes new life, growth and peace. Mr. Bezos included a photo of a koru frond in an Instagram post on Jan. 1, 2022.

Brad Stone, who was the first to report on Koru, in his 2021 book “Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire,” said the name was “consistent with where we see him today.”

“He is no longer this single-minded tech guy,” Mr. Stone said. “He’s in media and Hollywood and has a new relationship.”

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