It was known as the Bezos Met Gala, but you know who was glaringly absent from the carpet? Bezos himself. The Amazon founder quietly slipped into the gala Monday night, bypassing the chaos on the carpet (and prying reporters lining the sides) while leaving his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, to hold down the pair’s honorary chairs duties solo.
Sánchez Bezos arrived early in the evening, as is customary for members of the host committee, dressed in a Schiaparelli ball gown.
Also not present on the carpet: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan. They attended the gala, and a spokesperson shared with The New York Times that they wore a by-the-book Prada tux and a red Alaïa frock, yet they were not willing to subject themselves to the carpet and its inquisitive cameras.
This subterfuge tracks with the current inclination of tech lords to avoid the public, particularly journalists and photographers, even at high-profile events. In February, Zuckerberg and Chan attended the Prada show during Milan Fashion Week, arriving well after the other guests had seated and with a phalanx of burly security guards protecting them.
A couple tech leaders did ascend the Met stairs for all to see. There was the Google founder Sergey Brin, who showed up in a blue tux and bouffant bow tie with his girlfriend, Gerelyn Gilbert-Soto, a conservative gut-health influencer. And the Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel, in a shawl-collar tux, attended with his wife, Miranda Kerr, at his side. As regulars, the carpet, and all the publicity that goes along with it, is old hat to them now.