WSJ: Lauren Sanchez's Brother Sold Jeff Bezos' Erotic Texts for $200K

The brother of Amazon CEO and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos’ lover, Lauren Sanchez, reportedly sold Bezos’ erotic texts to the National Enquirer for $200,000.

Bezos and others previously floated conspiracy theories that President Trump in partnership with Saudi Arabia had been involved with the National Enquirer publishing Bezos’ erotic texts, however, according to the Wall Street Journal, Lauren Sanchez’ brother, Michael, sold them for $200,000.

Citing “people familiar with the matter,” the Wall Street Journal reported that “Michael Sanchez, the brother of Mr. Bezos’ lover, sold the billionaire’s secrets for $200,000 to the Enquirer’s publisher.”

“The inside story of the deal between American Media LLC and Mr. Sanchez, brother of Lauren Sanchez, answers many of the central questions in a high-profile fight between the nation’s best-known tabloid and the world’s richest man, including how the Enquirer obtained the Bezos texts, for how much and why the spat became so bitter and public,” the Journal declared, adding that “Mr. Sanchez said he didn’t want to ‘dignify’ the Journal’s reporting on the contract he struck,” and that he “described the reporting on the contract as ‘old rumors’ from anonymous sources.”

The Wall Street Journal also claimed that, “Despite his qualms, [National Enquirer publisher] Mr. [David] Pecker approved the $200,000 deal with Mr. Sanchez that had been negotiated by American Media’s chief content officer, Mr. Howard; its general counsel for media, Cameron Stracher; and others, said people familiar with contract. The amount—higher than the company typically pays sources—reflected the significance American Media placed on Mr. Sanchez’s information.”

“In most cases, the company’s source agreements require it to pay for information upon publication; if a story is never published, American Media doesn’t have to pay,” the Journal explained. “By contrast, the contract with Mr. Sanchez stipulated he was to paid upfront, regardless of whether any story was published, the people familiar with the contract said.”

This week, Michael Sanchez also admitted to making a “deal with the devil,” during an interview.

The National Enquirer published the text messages between Bezos and Lauren Sanchez in January, prompting Bezos to announce a divorce with his wife, and it was later reported that the Enquirer also had intimate pictures of Bezos — which Bezos claimed he was being blackmailed with.

The incident led to Bezos launching an investigation into how the messages and pictures leaked, during which Lauren Sanchez’s brother was reportedly questioned.

In February, Michael Sanchez claimed the leak of Bezos’ messages was likely due to his sister sharing them with her “girlfriends.”

“I had nothing to do with leak of the dick pics. That’s the important thing,” he claimed. “I never had access. It’s clear they were sent to others. There are, like, 20 dick pics. Lauren likely shared them with multiple girlfriends, not in a malicious way, that’s not her style, but when she’s in love, she got a kick out of sharing them. One time she tried to show me one and I was like, ‘What the fuck is wrong with you? I don’t want to see that!’”

“I’m not saying I didn’t do something,” he continued. “Until I go under oath, what I can tell you now is that ever since April 20, when I met Jeff, my only goal has been to protect Jeff and Lauren.”