About a dozen Venetian organisations 鈥 including housing advocates, anti-cruise ship campaigners and university groups 鈥 are protesting under the banner 鈥淣o Space for Bezos鈥, a play on words referring to his space exploration company Blue Origin and the bride鈥檚 recent space flight.
Greenpeace unfurled a banner in St Mark鈥檚 Square denouncing Bezos for paying insufficient taxes. Activists floated a bald-headed Bezos-inspired mannequin down a Venice canal atop an Amazon delivery box, its hands clenching fake cash.
Authorities 鈥 from Venice’s mayor to the nation鈥檚 tourism minister 鈥 have dismissed the outcry, saying it ignores the visibility and economic boost the wedding brings.
鈥淭here will be photos everywhere, social media will go wild over the bride鈥檚 dress, over the ceremony,鈥 Italy鈥檚 tourism minister, Daniela Santanche, told the AP.
鈥淎ll of this translates into a massive free publicity campaign. In fact, because they will spend a lot of money, they will enrich Venice 鈥 our shopkeepers, artisans, restauranteurs, hotels. So it鈥檚 a great opportunity both for spending and for promoting Italy in the world.鈥
PHILANTHROPY
As Amazon鈥檚 CEO, Bezos usually avoided the limelight, frequently delegating announcements and business updates to his executives. Today he has a net worth of US$231 billion, according to Forbes.
In 2019, he announced he was divorcing his first wife, MacKenzie Scott, just before the National Enquirer published a story about an affair with Sanchez, a former TV news anchor. Sanchez filed for divorce the day after Bezos鈥 divorce was finalised.
He stepped down as CEO in 2021, saying he wished to spend more time on side projects, including Blue Origin, The Washington Post, which he owns, and his philanthropic initiatives.
Sitting beside Sanchez during an interview with CNN in 2022, he announced plans to give away the majority of his wealth during his lifetime.
Last week, a Venetian environmental research association issued a statement saying Bezos鈥 Earth Fund was supporting its work with an 鈥渋mportant donation鈥. CORILA, which seeks protection of the Venetian lagoon system, said contact began in April, well before any protests.