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Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) received $218,000 plus an additional $36,000 to cover the legal fees against his girlfriend’s brother Michael Sanchez.

John Doyle, Judge of Los Angeles County Superior Court dismissed the defamation cases and refused Bezos’ 1.7 million request for his unsuccessful defamation case against Sanchez. Judge Doyle argued the CEO of Amazon had put too many lawyers on his case and the number was unreasonable.

He said: "This was not a matter which required seven partners and 11 associates."

Tom Warren, an attorney for Sanchez, told Insider in a statement that the $1.7 million request was "grotesque."

"When Mr. Bezos filed his motion for $1.7 million in attorney's fees, we discussed how grotesque the request was" he said. "Last Friday, the court resoundingly rejected his request."

Sanchez lawsuit against Bezos

In February 2020, Sanchez filed against Bezos and his personal security chief Gavin De Becker. He and De Becker requested from the Judge $1,676,919.50 in attorney fees and $36,019.26 in other costs from Sanchez’s defamation suit.

In his February lawsuit, Sanchez alleged the CEO of Amazon and De Becker of falsely accusing him of sending nude photos of Bezos to the National Enquirer. Additionally, the lawsuit added, Bezos alleged Sanchez of sending pictures to the journal. In return, the richest man in the world filed a motion under California's Anti-SLAPP law to protect against “frivolous lawsuits”. In November, Doyle ruled in favor of Bezos.

Bezos started dating Lauren the sister of Michael Sanchez in January 2019, after he announced his divorce with MacKenzie. The Enquirer reported they acquired "raunchy messages" with Lauren Sanchez and explicit photos.

Consequently, the CEO of Amazon launched an investigation led by De Becker. In an interview with The Daily Beast, De Becker said "Michael Sanchez was among the people we've been speaking with and looking at" during the investigation and "strong leads point to political motives" for leaking information to the Enquirer. However, Sanchez denied the findings.

Last month, Bezos announced his stepping down as CEO of Amazon later this year. He is currently the richest person in the world and worth $177 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.