Lauren Sánchez’s bank account will get significantly bigger from the moment she says “I do” to multibillionaire Jeff Bezos.
The former news anchor, 53, could make at least $1,000,000 for “every year married,” attorney Brett Ward tells Pvnew exclusively.
The partner and co-chair of the matrimonial and family law practice group at Blank Rome — who has no affiliation with either Bezos or Sánchez — adds that a “multimillion-dollar residence is not out of the question by any means.”
Bezos’ wedding to Sánchez is the second time he will walk down the aisle, as he was previously married to MacKenzie Scott for 26 years.
However, the former couple did not have a prenuptial agreement in place and when they announced their split in January 2019, there was a $137 billion fortune on the line.
By that time, Bezos, 59, had amassed much of his wealth due to being the CEO of Amazon and is now the third-richest person in the world.
Scott, 53, ended up walking away with a reported $38 billion settlement, consisting of 19.7 million shares of Amazon.
Ward tells Pvnew that he does not suspect that the decision Bezos made going into his marriage with Scott will factor into whether or not he will get a prenup with Sánchez at all.
“Jeff is in a very different place now than he was then,” the attorney points out.
“He was on his way up and may have never been able to predict the level of wealth but now that is established.”
Ward adds that many divorcées who did not have prenups in their first marriages are actually more likely to get one the second time around because “the experience of a contested divorce is often the best motivator.”
“What most people do not consider, are the financial and emotional costs of going to court without a prenuptial agreement,” he says.
“Litigants with this level of wealth can end up spending millions of dollars in court fighting over issues like the valuation and classification of assets.”
Ward says he would encourage Bezos to offer Sánchez a “fixed payment schedule tied to the length of the marriage in exchange for her waiving any of his assets or spousal support.”
“He can be sufficiently generous to her financially while at the same time saving the cost of an extended, costly, and likely public trial if the marriage does not work out,” the matrimonial law attorney says.
“This is a strategy we often employ with high-net-worth individuals. It protects their assets and peace of mind.”
If he were representing Sánchez, Ward tells us he would advocate for her to receive assets “sufficient to provide a comfortable lifestyle for her and her [children] should the marriage not work out.”
The former entertainment reporter shares a son with NFL player Tony Gonzalez and a son and daughter with her ex-husband, Hollywood talent mogul Patrick Whitesell.
“Certainly, she should seek to be provided with a residence she can keep in the event of a divorce so as to minimize potential disruption to her [kids’] life,” Ward says.
However, the New York-based attorney says the jurisdiction in which Bezos and Sánchez obtain their marriage license can impact the terms of their prenuptial agreement.
He says in “most jurisdictions,” assets obtained prior to the marriage are considered “separate property” but given the “vastness” of Bezos’ assets, “this is a huge risk if they were to move to a jurisdiction that did not recognize this principle.”
Ward points out that because of Bezos’ significant wealth — he has a reported net worth of more than $139 billion — this is not a situation in which any monetary losses will have an overwhelmingly negative impact on him.
He concludes, “Fortunately, this is a case where Jeff could provide Lauren with sufficient money to make her and her [children] comfortable for the rest of their lives in the event of a divorce without impacting his lifestyle in any fashion.”
Pvnew exclusively reported Monday that Bezos proposed to Sánchez recently aboard his $500 million mega-yacht.
The business mogul popped the question to his girlfriend of five years with a 20-carat engagement ring estimated to cost $2.5 million.
It is unclear if the engaged couple plans to sign a prenup. Reps did not immediately return Pvnew’s request for comment.
