While world’s richest man Jeff Bezos, 55, and rumored girlfriend Lauren Sanchez still haven’t publicly commented on their romance, they’re reportedly taking a major relationship step. “They are very much together, and are planning to move in together,” a source tells PEOPLE. Amazon founder Jeff and wife MacKenzie announced on Jan. 9 that they were divorcing after 25 years of marriage, and later that day news emerged that he was already seeing the 49-year-old former LA TV news anchor. That was made all the more complicated by the fact that Lauren and her husband — Hollywood mega agent Patrick Whitesell — had not yet announced their own split.
Two days later on Jan. 11, Lauren and Patrick hired Hollywood’s top divorce attorney Laura Wasser to mediate their divorce and division of assets from their 13-year marriage. It’s going to be a lot more complicated for Jeff, as he’s worth $140 billion dollars and from the length of his long marriage to MacKenzie and the fact that she’s been with him since he started Amazon out of his Seattle garage means she’s likely entitled to half that enormous sum. However a lot of their fortune is tied up in stocks, so the divorce process and settlement could be quite complicated.
Even though Jeff and Lauren haven’t been seen in public together since the splits from their respective spouses, the magazine reports that the two are “in constant contact.” The National Enquirer has published photos of the couple on trips across five states and even at a romantic dinner in Santa Monica, CA on Oct. 30, three months before Jeff and MacKenzie announced their split. “Their families dealt with this in the fall,” a source tells PEOPLE. “The world is catching up to it, but it has had zero impact on their relationship. They’ve never been stronger.”
We might get our first look at the pair officially as a couple as Jeff is reportedly bringing Lauren to the Academy Awards ceremony on Feb. 24 as his plus one. “Expect to see Lauren joining Jeff [at the Oscars],” a source claimed to Page Six on Jan. 18. “They are an item and very much in love.” And the source added they were already out in the open with their romance, albeit inside parties after the Jan. 6 Golden Globes, which was three days prior to Jeff announcing his divorce. “They were not hiding their relationship and were very relaxed at the [Golden] Globes” the source told the site.