Jeffrey Preston Bezos or simply Jeff Bezos, is an American entrepreneur, media proprietor, investor, and commercial astronaut. He is the founder, executive chairman, and former president and CEO of Amazon.
Amazon is an online retailer of both books and a wide range of other goods. Under his leadership, Amazon grew to be the biggest online store and the standard for online commerce.
Jeff Bezos: Profile Summary
Full Name: Jeffrey Preston Bezos
Date of birth: January 12, 1964
Age: 59 years old
Place of birth: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Nationality: Mexican-American
Alma Mater: Princeton University (BSE)
Occupation: Entrepreneur, media proprietor, computer engineer, investor
Active years: 1986–present
Spouse(s): Mackenzie Scott (m. 1993, div. 2019), Lauren Sanchez (2019– present)
Children: 4
Relative(s): Mark Bezos (half brother)
Net Worth: US$109.3 billion
Jeff Bezos: Early Life and Education
Bezos was born 12th January, 1964 and he is 59 years old. He was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. When Jeff was born, his mother was a high school student who was 17 years old, and his father was a man who was 19 years old. Jorgensen, a Danish American, was born to a Baptist family in Chicago. Jacklyn went night school while Jeff was still a baby after graduating from high school despite difficult circumstances.
When he was two years old, Jeff went to a Montessori school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His mother wed Cuban immigrant Miguel “Mike” Bezos in April 1968 following his parents’ divorce. Soon after the nuptials, Mike adopted Jeff, age 4, and legally changed his last name from Jorgensen to Bezos.
The family relocated to Houston, Texas, when Mike graduated from the University of New Mexico so he could start working as an engineer for Exxon. From the fourth to the sixth grades, Jeff attended River Oaks Elementary School in Houston. Lawrence Preston Gise, a regional director for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in Albuquerque, was Jeff’s maternal grandfather.
Jeff spent several summers as a child at the family ranch in Cotulla, Texas, where Lawrence retired early. Later, Jeff would buy this ranch and increase its size from 25,000 acres (10,117 ha) to 300,000 acres (121,406 ha). In order to keep his younger siblings out of his room, Jeff once modified an electric alarm. He also demonstrated scientific interests and technological prowess.
Jeff attended Miami Palmetto High School after the family relocated to Miami, Florida. In his senior year of high school, Jeff worked the breakfast shift as a short-order line cook at McDonald’s.
Bezos participated in the University of Florida’s Student Science Training Program. He received the 1982 Silver Knight Award, was a National Merit Scholar, and was the valedictorian of his high school.
He founded the Dream Institute, a facility that encouraged young students to think creatively, when he was still a high school student.
He obtained degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from Princeton University in 1986 and worked at a number of positions before joining the New York investment bank D.E. Shaw & Co. in 1990.
Jeff Bezos: Career
Bezos, the company’s youngest senior vice president, was given the task of researching the investment opportunities presented by the Internet. His entrepreneurial mind was stirred by its immense potential—Web usage was increasing by more than 2,000% annually.
Amazon
Amazon rose to the top of the e-commerce industry swiftly. The site, which was accessible around-the-clock, encouraged users to publish their own book reviews and provided discounts, individualized book recommendations, and searches for out-of-print titles.
It started selling CDs in June 1998, and later that year it also started selling videos. Bezos invested in additional online stores and added auctions to the website in 1999. Other merchants, including well-known book chains, were inspired to open online storefronts by Amazon’s success.
Jeff Bezos saw the need for diversification as more businesses competed for Internet money, and by 2005, Amazon was selling a wide range of goods, including consumer electronics, clothing, and hardware.
Introducing Amazon Web Services (AWS), a cloud computing service that eventually grew to be the biggest of its kind in the world, allowed Amazon to diversify even further in 2006. The Kindle is a digital book reader with wireless Internet connectivity that Amazon debuted in late 2007; it allows users to buy, download, read, and save a wide variety of books on demand.
In 2010, Amazon declared that Kindle book sales had overtaken hardback book sales. With the launch of its Amazon Studios business, Amazon began producing its own television programs and motion pictures. From $510,000 in 1995 to around $600 million in 1998, and from more than $19.1 billion in 2008 to almost $233 billion in 2018, Amazon’s annual net sales soared.
AWS accounted for about half of the business’ operating income in 2018. Two years later, Amazon posted record profits and for the first time, its fourth-quarter revenue reached $100 billion. The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in house buying, which contributed in part to the historically high figures.
Bezos stated in February 2021 that he would be leaving his position as CEO at the end of the year. He did, however, intend to continue working for Amazon as executive chairman.
Other involvements or ventures
Bezos established Blue Origin, a spaceflight business, in 2000 in addition to Amazon. Soon after, Blue Origin purchased a launch site in Texas with plans to launch an orbital launch vehicle, New Glenn, in 2020 and a crewed suborbital spacecraft, New Shepard, in 2018. For $250 million, Bezos acquired The Washington Post and related publications in 2013.
Jeff Bezos: Net Worth
According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index and Forbes, Bezos has a net worth of US$109.3 billion as of January 2023 and was the richest person in the world from 2017 to 2021.
