Venice protests Bezos lavish wedding as Amazon founder blamed for killing over 1 lakh small local businesses

June 30, 2025 by News Desk

While billionaire Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, celebrated his multi-day, $56 million wedding to Lauren Sánchez on the private island of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venetians took to the streets and canals in a dramatic protest that targeted far more than just the guest list.

Waving banners that read “118,000 shops killed by Amazon” and “Eat the rich” protestors rallied under the banner “No Space for Bezos”—a grassroots coalition of environmentalists, residents, artists, and former shopkeepers who say Venice is becoming a playground for the ultra-rich at the expense of its people.

“Amazon has destroyed local economies across the world, and now its founder is turning our city into a stage for extravagance,” said one protestor. Activists pushed a dummy of Bezos—stuffed with fake cash and Amazon parcels—into a canal in a theatrical act of defiance.

The protests were not just about Bezos’ personal wealth but what it represented. Venice has lost thousands of small businesses over the past two decades, a trend accelerated by the rise of online commerce. Protesters argue that tech giants like Amazon have played a key role in this collapse, making it harder for local, family-run shops to survive.

Organizers also voiced fears over the city’s future, as climate change, rising rents, and mass tourism continue to displace locals. Some see Bezos’s high-profile wedding as the ultimate symbol of a city being sold off, piece by piece, to global elites.

Experts have long warned that the unchecked growth of online giants like Amazon is accelerating the collapse of local businesses across the globe. By undercutting prices and centralizing distribution, these platforms have made it nearly impossible for small, independent shops to compete.

Economists argue that this shift doesn’t just affect commerce—it fractures local economies, weakens community ties, and drains cities of their unique cultural and economic identities. Venice, they say, is just one of many places paying the price.

Despite the backlash in Venice, Bezos and Sánchez went ahead with the lavish wedding celebration. As per reports in Italian press, they also claimed to have donated around €3 million to local environmental and cultural organizations.

But for Venetians, the gesture rang hollow. “You can’t buy our silence,” a protester shouted through a megaphone. “Venice is not for sale.”