{"id":1118,"date":"2026-05-05T11:16:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T11:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/?p=1118"},"modified":"2026-05-05T12:32:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T12:32:14","slug":"the-met-gala-we-all-aspire-to-be-attendees-what-a-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/the-met-gala-we-all-aspire-to-be-attendees-what-a-party\/","title":{"rendered":"THE MET GALA…WE ALL ASPIRE TO BE ATTENDEES?, WHAT A PARTY!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Met Gala Is Entering Its Billionaire Era With Jeff Bezos and Lauren S\u00e1nchez<\/h1>\n

The Met Gala draws criticism as Jeff Bezos and Silicon Valley firms take a larger role in funding and shaping the iconic event.<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
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Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren S\u00e1nchez Bezos, are pictured at the 2024 Met Gala. Photo by Kevin Mazur\/MG24\/Getty Images for The Met Museum
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The official co-chairs of Monday\u2019s Met Gala<\/a> include Beyonc\u00e9, Nicole Kidman<\/a>, Venus Williams<\/a>, and, of course, Anna Wintour<\/a>. Yet the star-studded lineup has been overshadowed by the event\u2019s \u201chonorary chairs,\u201d a largely ceremonial title that has drawn outsized attention this year. Instead of designers, actors, musicians or athletes, the roles have gone to billionaires Jeff Bezos<\/a> and his wife, Lauren S\u00e1nchez Bezos.<\/a><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time members of the tech elite have appeared at the Met Gala\u2014Bezos himself attended in 2012, 2019 and 2024<\/a>. But the prominence of his involvement this year has sparked a wave of criticism, shining a light on Silicon Valley\u2019s increasingly influential role in fashion\u2019s biggest night.<\/p>\n

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A growing relationship between the Met Gala and tech executives is \u201ca new phenomenon in terms of the broader history of the gala, which was really about fashion,\u201d Deirdre Clemente<\/a>, a fashion historian at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told Observer.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1948 by publicist Eleanor Lambert<\/a>, the Met Gala began as a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art\u2019s Costume Institute, attended primarily by New York City socialites. It was a far cry from today\u2019s global spectacle. The shift toward celebrity accelerated in the 1970s under former Vogue<\/a> editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland, and by the time Wintour took over as chair in 1995, the event was well on its way to becoming a cultural juggernaut. (Wintour recently stepped down as editor-in-chief of Vogue U.S.<\/a> but remains its global editorial director.)<\/p>\n

As the Met Gala\u2019s profile has risen, so has its price of entry. Tickets\u2014available only to guests approved by Wintour\u2014cost $100,000, while tables start at $350,000. As tech companies have amassed enormous wealth, they\u2019ve increasingly stepped in to foot the bill in exchange for cultural cachet. This year\u2019s table buyers reportedly include Amazon, OpenAI, Meta and Snap.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m calling it the \u2018Tech Gala<\/a>,\u2019 because so much tech has gotten involved over the last decade,\u201d Amy Odell<\/a>, the author of the 2022 Wintour biography\u00a0Anna<\/em>, told Observer. \u201cOver the years, the price of admission has become so high that it\u2019s just like, who else can afford it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bezos, the founder of Amazon<\/a>, and S\u00e1nchez Bezos are also serving as the lead sponsors for this year\u2019s event. But it was the announcement of their roles as honorary chairs in February that ignited backlash. Despite Wintour defending S\u00e1nchez Bezos as a \u201cwonderful asset to the museum and the event<\/a>\u201d in a recent CNN interview, criticism has continued to mount. An anti-billionaire activist group known as \u201cEveryone Hates Elon,\u201d has even plastered New York City with posters<\/a> calling for a boycott.<\/p>\n

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Posters condemning the involvement of Jeff Bezos and Lauren S\u00e1nchez Bezos in the Met Gala have popped up across New York City. Photo by Angela Weiss\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For some observers, however, the presence of ultra-wealthy figures represents less a departure than a return to the gala\u2019s fundraising roots. \u201cIf you\u2019re talking about raising money, you invite the people who have the most money,\u201d Adrienne Jones<\/a>, a fashion professor at the Pratt Institute, told Observer. \u201cWho else to invite to be an honorary chair but one of the wealthiest men on the planet?\u201d<\/p>\n

Silicon Valley\u2019s growing presence at the Met Gala has been building for years. Amazon sponsored the event in 2012, followed by Apple in 2016. TikTok backed the gala in 2022, the same year OpenAI<\/a> created an A.I. installation for the Costume Institute\u2019s accompanying exhibition. Attendees have included not only Bezos but also Elon Musk<\/a>, Tim Cook<\/a> and Sergey Brin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2022, Wintour even invited Sam Bankman-Fried<\/a>, the FTX<\/a> founder later convicted of fraud, to attend and potentially sponsor the event. He ultimately canceled at the last minute, reportedly frustrating Wintour\u2019s team, according to Michael Lewis\u2019 2023 book Going Infinite<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Despite occasional controversy, tech companies remain eager to participate. A six-figure fee \u201cis a drop in the bucket to them,\u201d said Odell. \u201cWhat they get in exchange is so much more valuable, which is to be seen as glamorous and cool and to get that kind of exposure to a largely female audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s backlash, however, signals a shift in public sentiment. Critics are responding not just to tech\u2019s presence but to Bezos and S\u00e1nchez Bezos being \u201cfront and center this time,\u201d Jones said, pointing as well to growing concerns about wealth inequality and the labor impacts of A.I.<\/p>\n

Whether that backlash will alter the Met Gala\u2019s reliance on Silicon Valley remains uncertain. \u201cThey opened the door for Silicon Valley to now be a part of this\u2014and the money they\u2019re bringing with it,\u201d said Jones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n