Jeff Bezos He is the third human being who accumulates the most wealth on the entire planet. A wealth estimated by Forbes at more than 167.6 billion of US dollars. We all know him for being the Amazon founder and for directing this company until it became one of the internet giants along with Meta (formerly Facebook), Google, Microsoft and Apple. He also has his own diary, the historic Washington Post. And an aerospace company, Blue Origin. With it he fulfilled the dream of many: traveling to space. Something you can only do if you are a professional astronaut or if you are very, very rich.
The story of Jeff Bezos tells the best and worst of the United States and its economic system, spread throughout the world to different degrees. Thanks to Bezos, today you can fill your fridge in a couple of hours. EITHER buy anything, tool, object, book, film or appliance in and receive it the next day. With Amazon, Bezos revolutionized online shopping and today all companies offer similar services. But instead, millions of people work precariouslyat Amazon facilities or delivering your packages.
Jeff Bezos has been talked about at length. Today remains a reference in any aspect related to the economy or technology. Without going any further, not long ago I dedicated this article focused on Amazon. Today we will expand on all that information and review his life to get a closer look at the person behind amazonresponsible of Alexa, Prime Video, Kindle, Luna, AWS (Amazon Web Services) and who today works, without his direct supervision, on topics as advanced as artificial intelligencethe robotics or drones and so on unmanned vehicles.
The early years of Jeff Bezos
His full name is Jeffrey Preston Bezos, although his last name at birth was Jorgensen. Born on January 12, 1964 in Albuquerque, New MexicoJeff Bezos is the son of Jacklyn Gise and Theodore Jorgensen. Her parents were only 16 and 18 years old respectively when she was born. So, as often happens in these cases, they were forced to get married before Jeff was born. First in a hasty wedding in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and later, in the United States, officially. Like many other teenage marriages, it did not last long, so Jacklyn got divorced in the summer of 1965 and returned to his parents’ house.
As a single mother, Jacklyn finished high school and began working as a secretary, which allowed her to rent an apartment and attend night school. There she would meet her second husband, Miguel Bezos, to whom Jeff owes his last name. By mutual agreement, Jorgensen agreed to lose his last name and contact with his son. Otherwise, the couple and Jeff moved to Houston Texas. And later to Miami Florida. In both cities, Jeff studied. And finally he entered the Princeton University to study Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. Between 1982 and 1986.
And returning to the familiar, two children will be born from the marriage between Jacklyn and Miguel: Christine and Marcus (Mark). We know little about the younger sister. From Mark, the youngest son, we know that after a successful career in the advertising sector, in 2021 he was appointed director of the Bezos Family Foundationthe philanthropic family foundation created by Jeff Bezos’ parents in 2000. But his biography highlights having traveled to space with his brother on July 20, 2021 thanks to Blue Origin.
Young Jeff’s professional career
Jeff Bezos’ adoptive father, Miguel, had been born in Cuba and migrated to the United States. In the University of Albuquerque He studied Physics and Mathematics. And although he first wanted to graduate in Mechanical Engineering, he ended up doing it in Computer Science. Path that Jeff would later follow. After graduating in 1968, and already married to Jeff’s mother, he worked for Exxon. Job that he held for 32 years.
For his part, Jeff Bezos finished his university studies in 1986. And although he had offers from such well-known companies as Intel either Bell Labsfor two years he worked as an engineer in Fitel, a startup related to finance and technology. He then spent another two years as a manager and investor in the Bankers Trust. And between 1990 and 1994 he was in DE Shaw & Co., an investment fund based on mathematical models. There he would be named senior vice president at the age of 30.
Personally, two years after entering DE Shaw, he met the novelist MacKenzie Tuttle, who worked in the company itself. A year after meeting each other, in 1993, they married. And in 1994, the couple decided move to Seattle, Washingtonto found what we all know today by the name of Amazon.
Abra Cadabra, Bezos founds Amazon
In just eight years, Jeff Bezos, had achieved an enviable resume. At 30 years old, he was a senior vice president of an investment firm, which assured him a comfortable and peaceful future. However, Bezos wanted to set up his own company. In his work as an investor, he had come across a report that said the internet was growing at a rate of 2,300% a year. Or so sources cite. The Internet was the future, wow.
From that report was born Cadabra. This was going to be the name of Amazon, although Bezos had second thoughts. Luckily for everyone. We have talked about the origin of the name on several occasions. Amazon is the English name for Amazon, the popular South American river. Furthermore, in its name are A and Z, the first and last letter of the Latin alphabet. Hence the Amazon logo pointing out that in its online store you can find everything.
The reason for choosing Seattle as the headquarters has to do with the tax advantages. Initially, she wanted to settle in San Francisco. And speaking of money, everyone knows that Befos received $300,000 from his parents to start the business. Actually, $245,573. But Bezos was not short of money either. However, it has been impossible for me to find the figure and know how much money he put in from his own pockets. What we do know, from Jeff Bezos himself and other sources, is that the money soon arrived at Amazon. If Amazon was founded in 1994 and went online in 1995, during its first year of life it received more than 20 investments of $50,000 each. It’s more. Well-known investors soon became interested in Amazon. And in 1996 it received investments worth 8 million dollars.
Amazon’s success, from A to Z
Many know that Amazon’s first office was somewhat dumpy, more out of Bezos’ own desire than because he was able to invest money in proper offices. Not only that. Soon Amazon began to bring in money, beyond investors. In the first year of his life, They earned $20,000 a week. for its sales of books, movies and small electronics. And in 1999, Jeff Bezos appeared on the cover of the magazine time as the person of the year.
The office-garage-warehouse soon mutated into distributed logistics centers throughout the United States. In the first year of his life he was already selling all over the country. The Internet was in fashion and Americans wanted buy online. That first great success made it possible for Jeff Bezos to deploy various lines of business to what is today Amazon. That and acquiring companies that could shadow or that were dedicated to something similar. PlanetAll (1998), IMDb (1999), Alexa (1999), CDNow (2003), CreateSpace (2005), Audible (2008), BuyVIP (2010), goodreads (2013) and a long etcetera. One of the most recent purchases by Amazon is Roomba.
Currently, Amazon is not just an online store. It is one of the companies advertising Most important in the world, Amazon Advertising. Is a OTT platform that rivals Netflix, Prime Video. Without forgetting its audiobook and music platforms. Also produces movies and series, Amazon Studios. And has Supermarket online with physical stores, Amazon Fresh. Without forgetting that it has a catalog of own devices: e-books Kindle– Echo smart speakers with their own smart assistant Alexadongles fire tvsmart goalkeepers Ring, tablets, etc. It also provides online services to companies, Amazon Web Services. Which, in turn, has deployed wind and solar farms to provide its servers with renewable energy. And its fleet of planes.
The new life of Jeff Bezos
At 30 years old, Jeff Bezos left your job to start a new adventure with Amazon. And at 57 years old, Bezos stops being CEO from Amazon to begin a new life stage. Today, he owns less than 10% of his company. Two years before leaving Amazon, in 2019, he divorced his first wife, after 25 years of marriage and with four children behind him. By mutual agreement, and receiving part of his Amazon shares. That same year he announced his new relationship with Lauren Sanchez, who is still his current partner.
New personal life and new professional life. One of the reasons for leaving the management of Amazon, already consolidated as an internet giant, was that Blue Origin was already bearing fruit. This aerospace startup, founded by Jeff Bezos himself in 2000, had the goal of fulfilling Jeff’s childhood dreams: traveling to space. Something he did in the summer of 2021 with his brother and with Wally Funk and Oliver Daemen. The first space tourists to fly with Blue Origin. Although the first space tourist made his trip in 2001.
On the other hand, his public image She has been more compromised than during her time at Amazon. Her physical change, her divorce, her new personal relationship and her subsequent change of address, from cold Seattle to the hot beaches of Miami. In addition to having a mansion in Beverly Hills, where he spends much of his time and socializes. Jeff Bezos is today a reference in the technological and business world but he has also expanded his agenda in the social field, unlike his time at Amazon.
Already in a more sober aspect, he has been publicly seen in events related to finance and technology. Not for nothing, your investment fund Bezos Expeditions, created in 2005, has a valued portfolio at more than 107.8 billion dollars. And invest in companies dedicated to artificial intelligence, technology applied to health and other leading sectors.