PREVIEW

Campaign group Everyone Hates Elon and Greenpeace have unfurled a giant 20 x 20m message close to the spot where Jeff Bezos is to marry Lauren Sanchez in Venice.

The banner in the city’s famous St Mark’s Square reads: "IF YOU CAN RENT VENICE FOR YOUR WEDDING YOU CAN PAY MORE TAX.”

Bezos is reported to have hired and made unavailable large parts of the city and has already faced protests from locals.

The groups complain Bezos is the second-richest man in the world yet is reported to pay a 1.1% true tax rate.

The billionaire Amazon founder’s wedding is reportedly set to cost millions and will happen over three days.

A spokesperson from Everyone Hates Elon said: “As governments talk about hard choices and struggle to fund public services, Jeff Bezos can afford to shut down half a city for days on end just to get married. Just weeks ago, he spent millions on an 11-minute space trip. If there was ever a sign billionaires like Bezos should pay wealth taxes, it’s this.”

“While ordinary people struggle to pay the bills, there are more billionaires than ever before. These two things are obviously connected - they’re getting richer at our expense. It’s not rocket science: tax billionaires like Jeff Bezos now.”

Clara Thompson, Greenpeace campaigner, added: “While Venice is sinking under the weight of the climate crisis, billionaires are partying like there is no tomorrow on their mega yachts. This isn't just about one person — it’s about changing the rules so no billionaire can dodge responsibility, anywhere. The real issue is a broken system that lets billionaires skip out on taxes while everyone else is left to foot the bill. That’s why we need fair, inclusive rules, and they must be written at the UN.”

Recent polling by Oxfam and Tax Justice UK found that 77% of Britons would rather see taxes increased on the very richest than cuts to public spending, while 78% support introducing a 2% wealth tax on net assets worth more than £10 million.

This action follows Everyone Hates Elon’s previous viral campaigns including the widely shared "0 to 1939" spoof Tesla advertisement, which attacked Elon Musk over his far-right politics and garnered tens of millions of views online.