Bezos ‘forced to move Venice wedding party'
Jeff Bezos has reportedly been forced to move his Venice wedding celebrations after residents threatened to fill the city's canals with inflatable crocodiles to stop guests arriving.
Mr Bezos, the Amazon founder and one of the richest people in the world, had been expected to hold a party at a 16th-century hall in the city centre as part of three-day celebrations for his wedding to Lauren Sanchez.
However, the couple are now moving the event to a more secure location following protest threats by residents accusing him of effectively shutting down Venice.
Some demonstrators had claimed they would throw inflatable crocodiles into the canals leading to the Scuola Grande della Misericordia to block celebrity guests arriving on water taxis or gondolas.
Tommaso Cacciari, a member of the No Space for Bezos protest group, said: 'This is a big victory for us.
'Who would have thought that we could change the plans of one of the richest men on the planet?'
He added that a demonstration planned for Saturday – thought to be the main day of celebrations – will still go ahead. 'We'll leave the periphery of the city to them but we will be reclaiming the centre of Venice.'
The wedding will reportedly be moved to the Arsenale (Arsenal in English), a huge complex of boat yards, basins, warehouses and canals where Venetians built warships and merchant vessels for centuries. Until the 18th century, it was Europe's largest industrial complexes.
Surrounded by crenelated walls, the Arsenale will be much easier to secure than the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, which has easy public access.
There is an elaborately decorated gateway at its main entrance guarded by a group of large stone lions, one of which was taken from the Greek island of Delos.
Alongside the threat of angry Venetians, the switch was also prompted by heightened concerns of potential terrorist threats to the wedding because of the tense situation in the Middle East and war between Israel and Iran.
There are worries that members of the Trump family attending the celebration, including Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump, could be targets.
Darco Pellos, Venice's police chief, said: 'We have raised the level of alert as a result of the international situation so as to guarantee the security of tourists and residents.
'Private events with a high international profile will be monitored closely,' he added, referring to the Bezos wedding.
Dozens of private jets are expected to arrive at Venice's Marco Polo airport, bringing guests from as far afield as Los Angeles, Tanzania, London and Budapest.
But before the celebrations, Mr Bezos, 61, and his fiancée threw a foam party on board the Koru, his $500 million (£371 million), three-masted superyacht.
The yacht, which sails under a Cayman Islands flag, is anchored off an island on Croatia's Adriatic coast. It will arrive in the Venetian lagoon this week, accompanied by the Abeona, another mega vessel acting as a support ship and equipped with a helicopter pad.
Mr Bezos was photographed wearing swimming shorts, laughing and joking with Ms Sanchez, 55, as a giant cannon blasted foam onto the deck of the Koru. Younger guests were photographed driving golf balls into the sea from the deck of the huge vessel.
Protesters are preparing a hostile reception for the couple and the 250 guests reportedly invited to their three-day nuptials.
Various activist groups have coalesced under the slogan 'No Space for Bezos', which is a play on the billionaire's Blue Origin space exploration venture.
They have said that hosting the wedding is emblematic of how Venice has sold its soul to tourism at the expense of residents, who have faced acute housing shortages, the closure of basic services and the replacement of local businesses by trinket shops and trattorias.
They will have to face-off, however, against a rival group taking the opposite stance – that the wedding will bring Venice and Italy millions of euros in revenue and the Amazon founder should be welcomed.
Rallying under the slogan 'Yes Venice Can', the group consists of Venetian hoteliers, restaurant owners and business associations.
In a statement, they said: 'We cannot allow a noisy minority to discredit the image of this city in the eyes of the world.
'We will put on the very best welcome for Bezos, as we always do for those who choose Venice as a holiday destination or as a backdrop to big events. Venice is a city that welcomes people – it doesn't turn them away.'
It added that Venice has 'always been a crossroads of cultures, travellers, merchants and famous people'.
More than 90 private jets are expected to fly into Marco Polo this week, bringing Hollywood celebrities and tech tycoons from around the world.
Flight documents have shown there is a Gulfstream G650ER coming from Los Angeles that belongs to Kim Kardashian, according to Corriere della Sera, the Italian newspaper. A flight from Tanzania will bring Paul Tudor Jones II, a billionaire hedge fund manager, while a plane from Valencia will transport David Geffen, the film producer and record company executive.
Kylie Jenner will reportedly arrive from Budapest, while Oprah Winfrey, the chat show host, will fly in from New York City.
Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder, will travel from Brussels, closely followed by Lachlan Murdoch, one of the sons of Rupert Murdoch, who will come from London. Lady Gaga and Sir Elton John are also reported to be attending.
On Monday, activists staged a fresh protest against the wedding, unfurling a giant banner in St Mark's Square that read: 'If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax.'
The demonstration was organised by Greenpeace and Everyone Hates Elon, a British campaign group.
Clara Thompson, a Greenpeace campaigner, said: 'While Venice is sinking under the weight of the climate crisis, billionaires are partying like there is no tomorrow on their mega-yachts.
'This isn't just about one person – it's about changing the rules so no billionaire can dodge responsibility, anywhere.
'The real issue is a broken system that lets billionaires skip out on taxes while everyone else is left to foot the bill. That's why we need fair, inclusive rules – and they must be written at the UN.'
A spokesman from Everyone Hates Elon said: 'As governments talk about hard choices and struggle to fund public services, Jeff Bezos can afford to shut down half a city for days on end just to get married.
'Just weeks ago, he spent millions on an 11-minute space trip. If there was ever a sign that billionaires like Bezos should pay wealth taxes, it's this.'
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