Earlier this week, the good news came that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, 59, got engaged to his girlfriend of five years, Lauren Sanchez, 53.
This was reported by many American media, incl the people And Page six. The news came after Sanchez was spotted wearing a massive diamond ring on her finger while the couple was vacationing in Cannes, France, for the film festival. The couple has not confirmed their engagement yet.
Although happiness now seems to be blossoming for the couple, the beginning of the relationship was not so rosy. The couple marked the news scene in the early months with headlines consisting of rumours, scandals and leaked racy photos.
It was revealed after the investigation of adultery
Bezos and Sanchez publicly announced their relationship in January 2019, shortly after Bezos announced that he was divorcing his ex-wife, Mackenzie Scott (53). They have been married for 25 years and have four children together.
The former couple shared an official statement on Twitter, writing that they “parted as friends.”
Shortly after the news of the divorce, Bezos ended up in a major adultery scandal. US tabloid The National Enquirer, The four-month investigation revealed Bezos has allegedly been in a relationship with journalist Lauren Sanchez since the fall of 2018.
She was also married to Patrick Whitesell (58) at the time.
according to The New York Times The National Enquirer obtained a series of private photos and intimate text messages between Bezos and Sanchez, which revealed that the affair began the year before the couple split.
Also read: This is why Jeff Bezos’ new flame may be the most influential woman in the world (+)
Bezos was quick to crack down, among other things, hiring investigators to find out the truth about how the newspaper obtained intimate details. The quest to find out who was behind the leak presented the 59-year-old with many twists and turns.
Hackers attack from Saudi Arabia
There were many theories about how the private messages and photos got into the newspaper’s hands, and the report raised suspicions that the security of Bezos’ mobile phone had been compromised.
The Amazon chief believes he was an obvious target for the Saudis because Bezos’s newspaper, the Washington Post, closely covered the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Also Read: The Unknown Story: Jeff Bezos lived in Stavanger
Gavin de Becker, Bezos’ chief of security, also strongly suspected that Saudi Arabia hacked Bezos’ phone, leaking juicy details to the outside world.
Our investigation and many experts have concluded that Saudi Arabia had access to Bezos’ phone and collected private information, de Becker wrote in a commentary published in The Daily Beast.
The theory was subsequently reinforced Watchman An article was published in which security experts claimed that the hacker attack appeared to have come via an encrypted message from the Whatsapp account of Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman (37) in the spring of 2018. The message is said to have contained a video file. which allegedly hacked into the contents of the mobile phone.
Saudi Arabia denied responsibility for the hacking of Bezos’ iPhone, and the prince considered the accusations “absurd”, according to the Saudi authorities CBS News.
Also Read: Jeff Bezos:- You’ll Regret This When You’re 80
In addition to the hacker attack, Jeff Bezos also believed he was being blackmailed by The National Enquirer’s publisher, American Media Inc. (Ami).
In an explosive blog post on the site mode He wrote that AMI threatened to publish the private photos he should have sent Sanchez, if the 59-year-old did not finish the investigation into who leaked the photos and letters to the paper. For its part, AMI denied the charge of extortion.
son-in-law betrayed
Another theory was that Michael Sanchez, Bezos’ son-in-law, was involved in the leak.
The Wall Street Journal He claimed that Lauren Sanchez’s brother entered into a well-paid deal with the newspaper and provided them with evidence of his sister’s affair with the 59-year-old.
He dismissed the charges and saw his involvement as “pure conspiracy theories”.
However, the theory took a wild turn when Sanchez later admitted that he helped the tabloid with some sensitive information about the couple. to Vanity Fair He said it was just an image of a kiss and that he did it to protect his sister and his sister’s new husband.
I would never betray my sister. “All I did was protect Jeff and Lauren,” Michael Sanchez told the magazine.
Not everyone bought this explanation, and the company Bezos accused of extortion, AMI, believed Sanchez was the main person behind the leak. According to a report from The New York Times He is said to have received NOK 2.2 million for delivering private messages and photos to Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos in 2018.
In 2020, Michael Sanchez appeared to relent, suing Bezos for defamation. He claimed to have been falsely accused of providing racy images, wrote The National Enquirer Business interested.
Obviously, the lawsuit didn’t help the family relationship, and Lauren Sanchez commented on the leak scandal for the first time in years. In a statement to TMZLauren, via her lawyer, said of her brother’s involvement in the infidelity scandal:
– Secretly leaked most of my personal information to The National Enquirer – a deep, unforgivable betrayal. My family has been hurt by the false lawsuit and we really hope my brother finds peace.
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