Historical Figure
Jeff Bezos
b. 1964
American businessman (born 1964)
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"Charlie Rose Interview" — July 2000
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Biography
Jeffrey Preston Bezos is an American businessman best known as the founder, executive chairman, and former president and CEO of Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce and cloud computing company. According to Forbes, as of December 2025, Bezos's estimated net worth is US$239.4 billion, making him the fourth richest person in the world. He was the wealthiest person from 2017 to 2021, according to Forbes and the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Timeline
The story of Jeff Bezos, told in moments.
Born Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His mother is a 17-year-old high school student. His biological father is a 19-year-old who struggles with alcohol. His mother remarries when Jeff is 4. His stepfather, Miguel Bezos, a Cuban immigrant, adopts him. Jeff doesn't learn the truth about his biological father until he's an adult.
Graduates summa cum laude from Princeton with a degree in computer science and electrical engineering. Works on Wall Street at Bankers Trust, then D.E. Shaw, where he becomes the youngest senior vice president at 30. He's making good money. His boss tells him the idea of selling books on the internet is "a really good idea for someone who didn't already have a good job."
Incorporates Amazon in his garage in Bellevue, Washington. He drives to Seattle from New York while his wife MacKenzie types the business plan in the passenger seat. The company starts as an online bookstore. In its first month, it ships orders to all 50 states and 45 countries.
Founds Blue Origin, an aerospace company. Nobody notices. Amazon is losing money and the dot-com bubble is about to burst. Amazon's stock drops 95% from its peak. Bezos tells employees that stock price is not the business. He'll wait 15 years for Blue Origin's first successful spaceflight.
Named "richest man in modern history" by Bloomberg when his net worth exceeds $150 billion. He bought the Washington Post for $250 million in 2013. Amazon is now the world's largest online retailer, the largest cloud provider, and the second U.S. company to reach a trillion-dollar market cap.
Flies to space on Blue Origin's first crewed flight. He'd stepped down as Amazon CEO 15 days earlier. The flight lasts 10 minutes and 10 seconds. He floats weightless for about 3 minutes. Critics ask why a man worth $200 billion spent it on a 10-minute joyride. He says long-term, it's about moving heavy industry off Earth.
In Their Own Words (9)
The thing I have noticed is when the anecdotes and the data disagree, the anecdotes are usually right. There's something wrong with the way you are measuring it.
As quoted in "Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos explains his famous one-character emails, known to strike fear in manager's hearts" by Julie Bort, Business Insider (21 April 2018), 2018
When it comes to space, I see it as my job to build infrastructure the hard way — I'm using my resources to put in place heavy-lifting infrastructure so the next generation of people can have a dynamic, entrepreneurial explosion into space. … I want thousands of entrepreneurs doing amazing things in space, and to do that we need to dramatically lower the cost of access to space.
As quoted in "Jeff Bezos thinks that to save the planet we'll need to move all heavy industry to space" by Jillian D'Onfro, in Insider (1 June 2016), 2016
That kind of divine discontent comes from observing customers and noticing that things can always be better.
Jeff Bezos explains why Amazon doesn’t really care about its competitors 17 September, 2013., 2013
We’ve had three big ideas at Amazon that we’ve stuck with for 18 years, and they’re the reason we’re successful: Put the customer first. Invent. And be patient. If you replace ‘customer’ with ‘reader,’ that approach, that point of view, can be successful at The Post, too..
Jeffrey Bezos, Washington Post’s next owner, aims for a new ‘golden era’ at the newspaper. September 2013, 2013
Communication is a sign of dysfunction. It means people aren’t working together in a close, organic way. We should be trying to figure out ways for teams to communicate less with each other, not more.
The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon
Artifacts (15)
The Journal v. 29, no. 7, February 23, 2017 (IA Journal170223)
U.S. Navy. Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bethesda
Crea y Divaga / Invent and Wander: Vida y Reflexiones de Jeff Bezos / the Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos
El creador y CEO de Amazon nos revela los principios fundamentales que lo han guiado en la creación, dirección y transformación de esta compañía. «Cuando me preguntan quién, a día de hoy, está a la...
I came indeed in arms against him; but it was not my wish that he should be thus...
of Hungary as an independent power. Upon encountering the lifeless body of King Louis, Suleiman is said to have lamented: "I came indeed in arms against him; but it was not my wish that he should be...
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