- This is the latest development in a year-long saga that begun in January 2019, when Bezos announced his divorce from MacKenzie Bezos, shortly before his relationship with former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez was made public.
- News of the affair led to concerns over whether Bezos' phone was hacked, and the investigation that ensued eventually raised the possibility that the Saudi government was responsible for accessing the Amazon CEO's personal information.
- Here's everything that's been reported about how the crown prince apparently gained access to the Amazon CEO's phone.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Here's everything we know about how Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia was apparently able to hack Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' phone
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly hacked Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' phone in May 2018, the Guardian reported Tuesday claims that UN investigators backed on Wednesday .
March 21, 2018: Ahead of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans three-week tour of the US, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is invited to a small dinner with him in Los Angeles. The US trip is meant to paint the crown prince as a "reformer and globalist."
Nicolas Asfouri - Pool/Getty Images
Source: OCHR , Washington Post
April 4, 2018: Both Bezos and Crown Prince Mohammed attend a dinner in Los Angeles at the home of producer Brian Grazer, co-hosted by talent agent Ari Emanuel. Other guests at the dinner include Disney CEO Bob Iger and former NBA star Kobe Bryant.
Sage Grazer; Dan Steinberg/Invision/AP
Sources: Washington Post , OCHR
At the dinner, Bezos and Crown Prince Mohammed exchange phone numbers. The same day, the royal reportedly initiated a conversation with Bezos over WhatsApp.
Bandar Algaloud/Saudi Royal Court/Reuters
Source: New York Times , OCHR
May 1, 2018: Bezos receives an "unexpected message" from Crown Prince Mohammed containing an encrypted video file, per reports. The video "appears to be an Arabic language promotional film about telecommunications," showing Arabic text over images of Saudi and Swedish flags. Its not clear whether Bezos viewed the video, but immediately after getting the file, the amount of data transmitted on Bezos phone increased by "three hundredfold," the reports say.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Source: New York Times , Motherboard
November 8, 2018: Crown Prince Mohammed reportedly sends a meme to Bezos on WhatsApp with text reading, "Arguing with a woman is like reading the software license agreement. In the end you have to ignore everything and click I agree." The photo in the meme bears a passing resemblance to Lauren Sanchez, who would later be revealed to be having an affair with the Amazon CEO.
Source: New York Times , Motherboard
January 9, 2019: Bezos announces hes getting a divorce. The same day, the tabloid National Enquirer reports that Bezos and Sanchez had been dating for months. The paper obtained "raunchy messages and erotic selfies" exchanged between the two including Bezos infamous "I love you, alive girl" message and said that it had a nude photo "too explicit to print."
Adrian Dennis/Reuters
Source: Business Insider , Mashable
February 7, 2019: Bezos publishes a blog post accusing the National Enquirers publisher, AMI, of "extortion and blackmail." He also insinuated possible ties between the National Enquirers investigation into his personal life and the Saudi government.
Getty
Source: Medium , Business Insider
February 14, 2019: After more than three months of no communication, Bezos reportedly receives another message from Crown Prince Mohammed. The message warns Bezos that "all what you hear" is not true, and says: "there is nothing against you or Amazon from me or Saudi Arabia."
REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Source: Motherboard
March 31, 2019: Bezos chief security consultant Gavin de Becker writes in The Daily Beast that following an investigation into how the National Enquirer got its information, he could conclude "with high confidence" that the Saudi government had hacked Bezos phone and gained access to his private information. He reveals Bezos has been subject to numerous threats by the Saudis since October 2018.
Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP
Source: The Daily Beast
June 2019: The United Nations starts to look into Bezos allegations about the Saudi hack after someone close to him reportedly shares a forensic analysis of the Amazon CEOs phone.
Bebeto Matthews/AP Photo
Source: New York Times
January 21, 2020: The Guardian first reports on a forensic investigation that shows Crown Prince Mohammed hacked Bezos phone in 2018 using a video file containing malware.
Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS; Saul Loeb/Getty Images
Source: The Guardian
January 22, 2020: UN investigators release their report a day later, saying with "reasonable certainty" that Crown Prince Mohammed was involved in hacking Bezos phone. The UN also calls for an "immediate investigation" into Crown Prince Mohammed.
Reuters/Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court
Source: OCHR
See Also:
- 6 big things we still don't know in the bombshell report saying Jeff Bezos' phone was hacked by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
- Saudi Arabia denied hacking into Jeff Bezos' phone and called for an investigation into the 'absurd' claims
- Jeff Bezos' phone was reportedly hacked by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, in a new twist to the saga of his dramatic divorce here's everything we know so far
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