Bezos wedding backlash in Venice draws big banner blasting billionaire tax breaks

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is likely hoping it’ll be a banner day when he weds fiancée Lauren Sánchez later this week in Venice. A giant protest banner unfurled in the Italian city on Monday is probably not what he had in mind.

Greenpeace joined the British group “Everyone Hates Elon” — protesters united against Tesla CEO Elon Musk — in displaying a giant sign in Venice’s St. Mark’s Square which read, “IF YOU CAN RENT VENICE FOR YOUR WEDDING YOU CAN PAY MORE TAX.”

According to The Associated Press, Greenpeace said it wanted to draw attention to the comparatively low taxes many billionaires pay while allegedly exacerbating the climate crisis with environmentally unsustainable lifestyles.

Photos and videos on social media showed the banner being put in place — and then being quickly folded up and taken away by police.

The impending Bezos-Sánchez nuptials have been the focus of some blowback in the historic city since the lavish affair was announced. A “No space for Bezos” sign, in a nod to his Blue Origin space venture and Sanchez’s ride on one of the rockets, drew attention last week in the famed city of canals, where residents say there are already too many tourists and billionaires, NBC News reported.

It’s certainly not the first time Bezos has been targeted over taxes. Earlier this year, hackers accessed audio-enhanced crosswalk buttons in Seattle, adding a Bezos-sounding voice pleading, “please, don’t tax the rich.” Taxing Amazon was a popular refrain in the city during the company’s massive growth before the pandemic.

Bezos, 61, and Sanchez, 55, reportedly got engaged in May 2023. They first started dating around January 2019, after the Amazon founder announced he and MacKenzie Scott were divorcing after 25 years of marriage.

Sanchez is a former TV news anchor and helicopter pilot who is currently vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund.

Bezos arrived in Seattle in 1994 to start Amazon as an online bookseller. He left the city and the tech giant’s headquarters in the rearview in 2023 when he moved to South Florida.

Previously:

• Blue Origin’s all-female space mission sends celebrities and scientists on a suborbital trip
• Jeff Bezos’ huge sailing yacht has a carved figurehead that looks a lot like his girlfriend
• A Bezos too far? Dutch city will dismantle historic bridge to make way for Amazon founder’s big yacht