Jeff Bezos’ fiancée makes $60 million splash at climate meeting in Miami Beach
One of Miami’s newest and most potentially most influential celebrity residents made her first public comments in her new home on the stage of a major climate conference in Miami Beach.
Lauren Sánchez — vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund and fiancée of billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — announced a $60 million investment on Tuesday during Aspen Ideas: Climate, a three-day conference focused on finding solutions to climate change.
That money, she said, would help establish the Bezos Centers for Sustainable Protein, which will funnel investment into lab-grown and plant-based meats to make them “healthier, cheaper and tastier.” Sanchez, who settled late last year into the exclusive village of Indian Creek, where Bezos has purchased two expensive waterfront estates, praised the flavor improvements of the newest crop of alternative meats.
“Trust me, I’ve had them and you can hardly tell the difference. I really like ’em,” she told the audience at Aspen Ideas, which draws many high-profile speakers and attendees, including U.S. Cabinet secretaries and A-list investors, philanthropists, experts and policymakers.
It wasn’t immediately clear where the centers might be located, but the first choice might not be Florida, where lawmakers have launched a pre-emptive strike against “fake meat” before it has even hit the market. Just last week, the Florida Legislature passed a bill banning the sale of lab-grown meat in the state, part of an effort to protect the state’s politically powerful cattle industry. The bill awaits Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature, but based on previous negative comments