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World-renowned chef shares strangest celeb requests

World-renowned and chef-to-the-stars Jeff Schroeter has had the privilege of catering for some of the world’s biggest names and deepest pockets, and it hasn’t come without its share of surprises. While chatting on I’ve Got News For You, a news.com.au podcast, Schroeter has named some of the strangest requests to come through his kitchen, as well as the familiar faces behind them. First up came Anna Wintour, who has served as Vogue’s editor-in-Chief since 1988 and harbours a not-so-secret craving for tuna in a tin. “She used to dine at least once or twice a week and had a special table … but she’ll go through different phases [of eating],” Schroeter explained. “And during one phase, we had a beautiful tuna niçoise - everyone ate it,” he continued, before noting that “she didn’t like fresh tuna, so she used to bring her own canned tuna and hand it to the waiter, who handed it to the busboy, and [he’d] bring it down to the kitchen. “So I’d make this beautiful niçoise salad, and then open a tin of tuna, and just put it on top. And she loved it.” In another bizarre move by the fashion elite, German designer Karl Lagerfeld once arrived at one of Schroeter’s restaurants with a group of “about 10 to 12” and a request that sent the kitchen scrambling. According to Schroeter, Lagerfeld and his party had been in the mood for “an American hotdog with fries”. But there was just one problem - they didn’t “have any of that!” All was not lost, of course, with the staff managing to come up with a solution. Before the clock struck midnight, a local street vendor saved them with a quick hot dog sale. And in a tale as old as time, McDonalds came to the rescue with the chips. “We sent the other busboy to McDonald’s to buy the fries and come back,” Schroeter said, “we put it on plates, sent it out, and [Lagerfeld] said it was the best meal [he’d had] for a long time.” In what is arguably Schroeter’s most notable diner, Queen Elizabeth often stopped by for her favourite dish. While not particularly unusual on its own, the order served as a clear sign to the kitchen that they had a very royal request on their hands. Apparently, the “50 to 80” chefs who worked at London’s Savoy hotel alongside Schroeter could tell when they had a royal visitor, as “they’ve got heavily armed security guards coming through the kitchens with Alsatians.” “[The royals] always dine in one of the seven private banquet rooms, but we’d know it was the Queen because she always loved the peach Melba,” he went on to explain. “So we knew when there were seven to 10 peach Melbas going to a private room, the Queen must be in the house.” Schroeter also shared his experiences with pop royalty, opening up about the time he was hired - along with four other talented chefs - to cater for Madonna’s 37th birthday celebration. “She booked out the place [the Delano Hotel in Miami] for her birthday, security all around, and she flew in four chefs from around the country,” Schroeter said, “and she picked each one for a particular dish that she loves to eat. “And I was flown down for the one that I call ‘Madonna salmon’. It’s a particular type of salmon and we cut it as a butterfly, and we put it with crushed cucumber, dates, walnuts, shaved fennel, lemon juice, olive oil and sweet basil – then the whole dish just lightens the salmon. “It’s healthy, it’s good for you … It was brilliant, three days down there and all I had to do was one dish. It was the best function I’ve had.” Although he didn’t have the opportunity to properly chat to the music superstar, he came away with a good impression, telling I’ve Got News For You host Andrew Bucklow that she was a “lovely, lovely woman … especially when she knows you’re cooking her favourite dish.” Images: Getty, @sallyb_sbco / Instagram

Food & Wine

Sculpture worth $42,000 shatters at art fair

Pieces of an iconic sculpture are now in high demand, after the renowned work smashed to pieces. At a Miami art fair, Jeff Koons’ well-known piece Balloon Dog (Blue), worth $42,000, was being showcased at the fair’s VIP preview night. Unfortunately, the 16-inch-tall sculpture would never make it to public viewing, after an art collector accidentally bumped into its transparent pedestal, sending the artwork falling to the floor where it shattered beyond repair. “Before I knew it, they were picking up the Jeff Koons pieces in a dustpan with a broom,” Stephen Gamson, an art collector and artist who was in attendance, told the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/18/arts/jeff-koons-sculpture-broken-miami.html">New York Times</a>. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog sculpture was accidentally broken into a thousand pieces by a visitor. The art piece was worth $42,000. <a href="https://t.co/fqHTIKpT5I">pic.twitter.com/fqHTIKpT5I</a> — Pop Tingz (@ThePopTingz) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThePopTingz/status/1628070672600645635?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2023</a></blockquote> “It was an event!” Bénédicte Caluch, an art advisor with Bel-Air Fine Art, tells the <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/visual-arts/article272539097.html">Miami Herald</a>. “Everybody came to see what happened. It was like when Banksy’s artwork was shredded.” Nervous attendees crowded around the shattered artwork, curious if the destruction was part of a larger stunt. However, as staff members stepped in to help clean the sculpture away, the onlookers quickly realised that was not the case. “Of course it is heartbreaking to see such an iconic piece destroyed,” Cédric Boero, Bel-Air Fine Art’s district manager, told CNN. The art collector didn’t intend to break the piece, but “this kind of thing unfortunately happens,” he adds. “That is why the artwork was covered by insurance.” An insurance expert will evaluate the pieces of the sculpture, which have been placed in a box for safekeeping. Art collector Stephen Gamson is among many who have offered to buy the now-destroyed artwork, with the gallery continuing to receive offers. “I find value in it even when it’s broken,” Gamson says to the Miami Herald. “To me, it’s the story. It makes the art even more interesting.” Image credits: Getty Images

Art

Dolly Parton receives $100 million from Jeff Bezos for philanthropic work

Dolly Parton has received a a $US100 million ($149 million AUD) prize awarded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos for her philanthropic work. The country music start received the Bezos Courage & Civility Award, which recognises leaders who "pursue solutions with courage and civility". Bezos, along with his partner Lauren Sanchez, announced the award on Friday, with Sanchez saying in an instagram post that Dolly Parton is "a woman who gives with her heart and leads with love and compassion in every aspect of her work". "We can't wait to see all the good that you're going to do with this $100 million award," she said. Parton, in a video clip of the ceremony posted online, said, "Wow! Did you say $100 million?" "I think people who are in a position to help should put their money where their heart is. I will do my best to do good things with this money," she said. The 76-year-old musician has long been known for her decades-long work as a philanthropist, as she most notably donated $US1 million to Vanderbilt University's Medical Center to help develop a vaccine during the Covid-19 pandemic. Parton, who this month was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, also has founded a number charities including the Dollywood Foundation, which focuses on education as well as poverty relief. Image credits: Getty Images

Money & Banking

Wake up Jeff! Extended napping in seniors may signal dementia

<div class="copy"> Daytime napping in older people is common and a normal part of aging, however, in excess it may also foreshadow <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/predictive-test-for-alzheimers-disease/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Alzheimer’s disease</a> and other <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/dementias-rising-pressure/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dementias</a>, according to a <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/alz.12636" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">new study</a>. Researchers found that excessive daytime napping predicts an increased future risk of Alzheimer’s dementia. And, once dementia or its usual precursor – mild cognitive impairment – are diagnosed, the frequency and/or duration of napping accelerates rapidly. The results were published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association. “Daytime sleep behaviors of older adults are oftentimes ignored, and a consensus for daytime napping in clinical practice and health care is still lacking,” says co-first author Dr Peng Li, based at the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Massachussets, US. “Our results not only suggest that excessive daytime napping may signal an elevated risk of Alzheimer’s dementia, but they also show that faster yearly increase in daytime napping may be a sign of deteriorating or unfavored clinical progression of the disease,” adds Li. The study tracked data from 1,401 seniors for up to 14 years. Those studied, approximately three-quarters of whom were female, had an average age of 81 years. They wore watch-like devices that tracked mobility continuously for up to 14 days every year. Each prolonged period without activity detected by the device between 9am and 7pm was interpreted as a nap. In addition, they underwent yearly neuropsychological tests to evaluate cognition. At the start of the study 75.7% of participants had no cognitive impairment, while 19.5% had mild impairment and 4.1% had Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers found that longer and more frequent daytime naps were a risk factor for developing dementia in cognitively normal older men and women. As the disease progressed, annual increases in the duration and frequency of napping accelerated – especially after the clinical manifestation of Alzheimer’s dementia. This occurred independent of known risk factors for dementia – including age and night-time sleep duration and fragmentation. “We found the association between excessive daytime napping and dementia remained after adjusting for night-time quantity and quality of sleep,” says co-senior author Dr Yue Leng of the University of California San Francisco. “This suggested that the role of daytime napping is important itself and is independent of night-time sleep.” This increase in napping may be explained by a <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/alzheimers-disease-destroys-neurons-that-keep-us-awake/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2019 study</a>, which compared the post-mortem brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease to those without cognitive impairment and found they had fewer wake-promoting neurons in three brain regions. The authors acknowledge the limitation that, because the study participants were older, the findings may not easily translate to younger cohort. They also suggest that future studies should test whether a direct intervention in daytime napping can lower the risk of Alzheimer’s dementia or cognitive decline. “I don’t think we have enough evidence to draw conclusions about a causal relationship, that it’s the napping itself that caused cognitive aging, but excessive daytime napping might be a signal of accelerated aging or cognitive aging process,” says Leng. “It would be very interesting for future studies to explore whether intervention of naps may help slow down age-related cognitive decline.” “Our hope is to draw more attention to daytime sleep patterns and the importance of patients noting if their sleep schedule is changing over time,” adds co-senior author Dr Kun Hu, also of Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Image credits: Getty Images <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=185634&title=Wake+up+Jeff%21+Extended+napping+in+seniors+may+signal+dementia" width="1" height="1" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /></div> <div id="contributors"> This article was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/body-and-mind/alzheimers-dementia-nap/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Imma Perfetto. </div>

Mind

“An absolute disaster”: Prince William calls out billionaires’ space race

Prince William has called out the billionaires currently competing in a space tourism race instead of focusing their efforts on the environmental problems on Earth. The Duke of Cambridge directed thinly-veiled criticism at Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson during a BBC interview at Kensington Palace. The three billionaires have been embroiled in a recent race to provide private commercial space travel. “We need some of the world’s greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live,” <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-15/prince-william-urges-billionaires-put-planet-before-space-race/100541038" target="_blank">William said</a>. The interview comes after Mr Musk announced his focus on reaching Mars, and after Mr Bezos said that his inaugural space flight was part of building a road to space “so that our kids and their kids can build a future”. “We need to do that to solve the problems here on Earth,” Mr Bezos said. The Amazon founder recently celebrated his second suborbital space flight, which included Star Trek actor William Shatner among its passengers. The British royal family has made a trend of speaking out on environmental issues, with William following in the steps of his father Prince Charles and late grandfather Prince Philip. Prince Charles has been calling for action to stop climate change for decades, often facing ridicule for his stance. The 72-year-old heir to the throne <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/travel/travel-trouble/prince-charles-shocked-that-morrison-not-confirmed-for-glasgow-climate-conference?fbclid=IwAR0yBM3BrGS_5kZp0-E8kfD0lmaoVumFZDUhBcq0LmueyAmeR1gHv8fOk8I" target="_blank">recently described</a> the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow as a “last chance saloon” for combating climate change, sharing how he tries so hard to encourage world leaders to attend and take action. “It’s been a hard road for him. He’s had a really rough ride on that, and I think he’s been proven to being well ahead of the curve,” William said. “But it shouldn’t be that there’s a third generation now coming along having to ramp it up even more.” William also warned that not taking action now could be “robbing from our children’s future”. “For me, it would be an absolute disaster if [my son] George is sat here in 30 years’ time, still saying the same thing, because by then we will be too late. “Now I’ve got children as well and speaking to other parents, it’s a bit of a cliche, but you do start to see the world differently. “I want the things that I’ve enjoyed - the outdoor life, the nature, the environment - I want that to be there for my children, and not just my children but everyone else’s children.” The prince said the key to tackling the issue was to “bring people with us”. “People have got to feel like there’s hope, there’s a chance we can fix this.” He also echoed his father’s message, saying the upcoming COP26 conference had to result in action. “We can’t have more clever speak, clever words but not enough action,” William said. In response to the issue of climate change, William created the Earthshot Prize, with the aim of using new technologies or policies to solve Earth’s biggest environmental problems. Image: @KensingtonRoyal / Twitter

Travel Trouble

"COVID kicked my ass pretty good": Jeff Bridges' major health update

Legendary actor Jeff Bridges has discussed his long battle with cancer, and with contracting COVID-19. The 71-year-old shared the first sneak peek from The Old Man, for which he is the star and executive producer, while also sharing a health update on his website. "My cancer is in remission — the 9" to 12" mass has shrunk down to the size of a marble. My COVID is in the rear view mirror," he said. "COVID kicked my ass pretty good, but I'm double vaccinated and feeling much better now," he continued, following up on a post from March where he discussed how he contracted coronavirus at the same place he was undergoing chemotherapy for his lymphoma. "I heard that the vaccine can help folks with long haulers. Maybe that's the cause of my quick improvement." Jeff said he needed oxygen assistance after contracting the virus, but he overcome obstacles in his way to achieve a major milestone. "I had a goal — walking my daughter Hayley down the aisle," he wrote. "She was getting married to a wonderful guy, Justin Shane. Thanks to Zach [Wermers, physical therapist] and my terrific medical team, I was able to, not only walk Hay down the aisle, but do the father/bride dance with her without oxygen." Jeff shared the emotional moment of him dancing with Hayley at her wedding to the Ray Charles song Ain't That Love on his personal website. Image credit: Getty Images

Caring

Oldest woman makes it to space 60 years after training

60 years after she first completed astronaut training, Wally Funk has become the oldest person to reach space. Ms Funk was one of the so-called Mercury 13 - a group of women who trained to become NASA astronauts in the 1960s. Despite her training, she was denied the opportunity to go to space because of her gender. She was 21 at the time, and the youngest of the women who passed the same testing as the Mercury Seven male astronauts in NASA’s program that sent Americans into space between 1961 and 1963. “I didn’t think I’d ever get to go up,” Ms Funk said in a video interview on NASA’s website. But, the 82-year-old was finally able to make the journey as one of Jeff Bezos’ three co-passengers aboard the Blue Origin’s New Shepard launch vehicle during its historic suborbital flight. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> "Guess what: It doesn't matter what you are. You can still do it if you want to do it. And I like to do things that nobody has ever done." ~Wally Funk ❤️✈️🚀 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyWallyFly?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyWallyFly</a> <a href="https://t.co/zispvzshnm">pic.twitter.com/zispvzshnm</a> — Dr. Tanya Harrison (@tanyaofmars) <a href="https://twitter.com/tanyaofmars/status/1417460508731523085?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 20, 2021</a></blockquote> She also set the new record as the oldest person to launch into space, a title previously held by the late John Glenn, who was 77 when he flew aboard the Discovery space shuttle in 1998. “I’ve been waiting a long time,” Ms Funk said afterward. “The four of us, we had a great time. I want to go again – fast.” Ms Funk was a passenger alongside Mr Bezos’ brother Mark, and Oliver Daemon, the 18-year-old who became the youngest person to fly to space. The vehicle reached an altitude of about 106 kilometres during the 10 minute flight. “I felt like I was just laying down. I was just laying down and I was going to space,” Ms Funk said. It isn’t the first time Ms Funk has set a record, having been both the first female flight instructor at a US military base and the first woman to become an air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. “I’ve done a lot of astronaut training through the world, Russia, America. And I could always beat the guys on what they were doing because I was always stronger and I’ve always done everything on my own,” Ms Funk said after the flight. “And I didn’t do dolls … I did outside stuff. I flew airplanes, 19,000 some hours. I loved it and I loved being here with all of you, your family,” she told Mr Bezos. She added that she would “cherish that forever”. Footage from the flight showed the weightless passengers floating, doing somersaults, tossing Skittles and throwing balls. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Blue Origin video from inside the New Shepard capsule in space: Jeff Bezos: “Who wants a Skittle?” <a href="https://t.co/SUO6sAYZAE">pic.twitter.com/SUO6sAYZAE</a> — Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) <a href="https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1417522168078893056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 20, 2021</a></blockquote> The crew also took a number of mementos with them on the trip, including a piece of fabric from the Wright brothers’ first place and a pair of goggles belonging to Amelia Earhart. Image: IWASM / Twitter

Retirement Income

Jeff Bezos slams “sickening” response to Black Lives Matter post

Jeff Bezos has told a racist customer he’s happy to lose his business. The founder of online giant Amazon has shared the “sickening” email he received from a customer after his company showed support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Bezos took to Instagram to post a screenshot of the email which used the N-word multiple times and warned that Amazon’s anti-racist stance “will ruin your company”. <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CBJrhdzHKNt/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CBJrhdzHKNt/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">There have been a number of sickening but not surprising responses in my inbox since my last post. This sort of hate shouldn’t be allowed to hide in the shadows. It’s important to make it visible. This is just one example of the problem. And, Dave, you’re the kind of customer I’m happy to lose.</a> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/jeffbezos/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank"> Jeff Bezos</a> (@jeffbezos) on Jun 7, 2020 at 3:50pm PDT </div> </blockquote> “I cancelled my order and I know for a fact that I won’t be the only one,” wrote the customer named Dave. “Maintain your stance and we will watch your profits decline and laugh about it.” Bezos revealed that there had been a “number of sickening but not surprising responses” in his inbox since his last post, which also shared an email from a customer denouncing the company. “This sort of hate shouldn’t be allowed to hide in the shadows,” he wrote in the recent post. “It’s important to make it visible. This is just one example of the problem. “And, Dave, you’re the kind of customer I’m happy to lose.” In another post, Bezos shared his response to a customer named Macy who told him all lives mattered. <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CBEcwTgneUY/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CBEcwTgneUY/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">I got this email from a customer and wanted to share my response.</a> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/jeffbezos/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank"> Jeff Bezos</a> (@jeffbezos) on Jun 5, 2020 at 3:05pm PDT </div> </blockquote> “It is quite disturbing to get on the Amazon website and see Black Lives Matter,” she wrote. “I am for everyone voicing their opinions and standing up for what you believe in, but for your company to blast this on your website is very offensive to me and I’m sure you’ll be hearing from others.” The billionaire responded by saying “black lives matter” doesn’t mean other lives didn’t matter. “Black lives matter speaks to racism and the disproportionate risk that black people face in our law enforcement and justice system,” he told her. “I have a 20-year-old son, and I simply don’t worry that he might be choked to death while being detained one day. It’s not something I worry about. Black parents can’t say the same.” Bezos said his stance wouldn’t change.

Money & Banking

Oprah buys actor Jeff Bridges' Santa Barbara estate for $10 million

Another day, another home for Oprah. The TV star now owns at least six homes after selling the houses based in Chicago and Atlanta. The star has seemed to turn her focus to the Montecito neighbourhood of Santa Barbara, and her latest house purchase from actor-friend Jeff Bridges is no exception. She purchased the home after sneakily waiting for the price to be reduced from the initial price of $USD 7.495 million ($NZD 11,676,000) and snapped it up for $6.85 million ($NZD 10,669,000). That’s a price reduction of $NZD 1,007,000. The 3,517 square foot Spanish Revival-style home was originally built in 1919 by famous architect James Osborn Craig. The house has been carefully taken care of as it still has its original windows, doors, hardwood floors as well as five fireplaces. The home features two bedrooms and three bathrooms. High ceilings, expansive windows and French doors are around the home, with every room opening to beautiful gardens. The house sits on an impressive four acres of gardens and also has a pool. The master bedroom features an open-beamed ceiling, French doors and a fireplace. The kitchen boasts wood cabinetry and quartz countertops and large, expansive windows are a staple throughout most of the rooms in the house. Photo credit: Elevated Horizon courtesy of Coldwell Banker

Home & Garden

The world’s richest man announces divorce after 25 years of marriage

The world’s richest man and Amazon chief Jeff Bezos is ending his 25-year marriage with wife MacKenzie. “We have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends,” the couple said in an announcement posted on Bezos’s Twitter page. “Though the labels might be different, we remain a family, and we remain cherished friends.” <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <a href="https://t.co/Gb10BDb0x0">pic.twitter.com/Gb10BDb0x0</a> — Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffBezos/status/1083004911380393985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2019</a></blockquote> Bezos is the world’s wealthiest person with a current estimated worth of US$137.1 billion (AU$191 billion) according to Forbes. The 54-year-old owns 16 per cent of tech giant Amazon, which is worth about US$130 billion (AU$ 181.2 billion). Bezos also owns space company Blue Origin and newspaper The Washington Post. MacKenzie Bezos is a novelist with two published books. She was known for supporting her soon-to-be-ex-husband’s business early on in their marriage by working as an accountant. She also founded anti-bullying organisation Bystander Revolution in 2014. The couple, who has three sons and an adopted daughter, met at investment firm D.E. Shaw in 1993 where they worked together. They got engaged after three months of dating. The couple lives in Washington State, which requires divorcing couples to split any assets gathered during the marriage. This means MacKenzie may leave the union with US$75 billion (AU$104.6 billion) in stock and become the world’s richest woman, eclipsing Walmart heiress Alice Walton, who currently holds the title with US$44.5 billion (AUS$62 billion) net worth. However, no financial details have been revealed about the divorce.

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