The wives of two high-profile and rich men are having a bit of trouble securing membership at a luxury country club.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has spent roughly $234 million buying property in one Miami neighborhood, which his new wife, Lauren Sanchez, gets to happily enjoy.
Ivanka Trump, who comes from money, and her husband Jared Kushner have owned a home on the same strip of land since 2020. Mark Zuckerberg owns there. So does the Qatari royal family.
And yet, none of them can get into one of Miami’s exclusive country clubs.
According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, the details sting a lot more than a simple no would.
Indian Creek sits in Biscayne Bay, just north of Miami Beach. The man-made island covers 300 acres, holds only 41 waterfront lots and houses fewer than 100 people.
Indian Creek Country Club straddles the island’s middle. The nearly century-old club has a private 18-hole course, a clubhouse styled like a Mediterranean villa and a pool facing the Miami skyline.
Owning a mansion on the island apparently does nothing to get someone a membership in the country club. Applicants need two current members to sponsor them, plus recommendation letters from five more.
A six-person committee and a 15-member board decide the rest. Getting in reportedly costs close to $1 million upfront and about $44,000 a year after that, according to Entrepeneur.
This is a membership a new WSJ report says Ivanka and Jared have been chasing years.
The couple bought their 1.26-acre lot for $32 million in 2020. They lined up a heavyweight sponsor too. Mary Anne Shula, widow of Dolphins coaching legend Don Shula. Then they threw a housewarming party. Reportedly, roughly half the club’s board didn’t bother showing up.
So Kushner switched strategies. He took a seat on the Indian Creek Village council, the body that governs the island separately from the club, and helped broker a fix for the island’s failing septic system. The compromise puts a new sewage pump station directly across from his own house.
Meanwhile, Ivanka has reportedly taken the softer route, golfing with members and turning up at club events. Someone familiar with the board’s thinking says it’s finally working, slowly.
The Journal’s post drew hundreds of thousands of views, and the replies offered no sympathy for President Donald Trump’s daughter or Sanchez. “My heart just bleeds for them and their total frustration. Boo hoo,” one user wrote.
Another kept it short: “Bezos can buy a rocket company but cannot buy his way past the membership committee. Money opens most doors. That one stays locked.” Several treated the rejection as overdue. “The Kushners are war profiteers. They should be banned from a lot of places,” one wrote.
A third said, “Money really can’t buy everything. The exclusivity is the point: membership requires sponsorships, recommendations and approval from a small committee and board—not simply the ability to pay the nearly $1 million initiation fee.”
The whole episode fits a pattern we’ve seen before. Weeks ago, her vacation slideshow drew a wave of side-eye from people who found the timing unbelievably tone-deaf, and this summer a leaked photo of her with Gayle King surprised critics.
Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos came to the club’s annual dock party in February as special guests. Members lined up to meet the Amazon founder. He spent the afternoon quietly making his pitch to board members.
Six months later, still no invitation. Even Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon had to survive an organized petition against his bid before members let him through.
The money is staggering, but it doesn’t matter.
Bezos founded Amazon, remains its executive chairman and biggest shareholder, and also owns Blue Origin and The Washington Post. His net worth is estimated at $231 billion.
Elsewhere, Kushner founded the Miami private equity firm Affinity Partners in 2021, he ran Kushner Companies as CEO from 2008 to 2017 and served as senior White House adviser during Trump’s first term. Forbes lists his net worth as past $1 billion.
But done of that has moved the board.
The two couples know each other well. Ivanka and Kushner, married since October 2009, flew to Venice in June 2025 for the Bezos-Sánchez wedding.
According to Page Six, they joined Oprah Winfrey, the Kardashians, Eva Longoria among about 200 guests.
Bezos and Sánchez have been married just over a year. Now the two households are neighbors, stuck on the same list, getting the same answer.
The billionaires can buy the island, but they still can’t buy the lawn.
