American businessman and investor Jeff Bezos became famous as the founder of. With a fortune of $192 billion, he is one of the richest people in the world, according to Forbes.
Child of divorce: Bezos grew up in Texas and Florida
The life of the former Amazon boss begins in Alberquerque, New Mexico. He was born on January 12, 1964 and grew up first in Texas and then in Florida. His biological parents Jacklyn Gise Jorgensen and Ted Jorgensen divorced shortly after his birth. His mother married Cuban Miguel Bezos when he was four years old. The Bezos family then moves to Houston, where Jeff's stepfather works for the Exxon oil company.
Bezos has been interested in technology and science since he was in high school. He discovered his fascination with books early on. The model student studied at Princeton University from 1982 to 1986 and completed his bachelor's degree in electrical and computer engineering with top grades.
Bezos comes up with the idea of Amazon on Wall Street
He gets his first job at the Taiwanese mobile phone company FITEL. But then he is attracted to Wall Street. He first worked for asset manager Bankers Trust before moving to DE Shaw & Co. There he not only met his future wife MacKenzie Scott, but was also appointed vice president of the company.
His job at DE Shaw & Co in the 90s was to find new areas of business on the Internet. He comes up with the idea of opening an online bookstore that sells all the books in the world. To pursue this idea, he leaves his well-paying job in New York and moves to Seattle. He founded Amazon in Pacific City in 1994.
Bezos makes Amazon the world's largest online mail order company
Over the years, he built Amazon into the largest online mail order company in the world. In addition to books, the company sells many other products, such as appliances, toys, and electronics. Amazon also offers the most successful subscription model in the world. With Amazon Prime, customers can order products with free shipping and expect delivery within two days.
The company also offers the Amazon Web Servies (AWS) cloud service. In streaming, Bezos' company has created an alternative to market leaders Netflix and Spotify with Amazon Prime Video and Audible.
Jeff Bezos still owns 10 percent of Amazon in the form of shares in 2023. When he divorced his wife MacKenzie Scott in 2019, he gave her four percent of his Amazon shares worth $38 billion. This makes her one of the richest women in the world today. The couple was married for 25 years and has four children: an adopted daughter and three sons.
Shortly before the divorce, Bezos wrote an open letter to the head of the National Enquirer because the newspaper was said to have blackmailed him with an alleged affair. After he ended his marriage to MacKenzie Scott in 2019, Bezos met with host Lauren Sanchez. The couple has been engaged since 2023.
Bezos, a space fan, founds the space company Blue Origin
The businessman has long had a fascination with Star Trek and space. That is why he founded the space company Blue Origin in 2000. Shortly after stepping down as CEO of Amazon, he flew into space on one of his company's rockets. But Bezos has great competition: the market leader in private space travel is the richest person in the world: Elon Musk and his company Space X.
Bezos also owns the Washington Post newspaper. He bought the newspaper in 2013 for $250 million. During the acquisition, Bezos promised not to interfere in day-to-day business. Since the Washington Post reported critically on Donald Trump, Bezos also became a target of the former US president.
Bezos is elected the worst boss in the world
In 2014, Bezos was named the world's worst boss by the International Trade Union Confederation. He is criticized, among other things, for the poor working conditions at Amazon. The company is known for strictly controlling its employees.
In 2017, the founder of Amazon was the richest person in the world and will remain so in 2024. He was long criticized for his lack of social commitment. But in recent years, the Amazon president has donated a lot to charities.
In 2018, Bezos and his ex-wife founded the “Bezos Day One Fund” to help the homeless. Bezos invested two billion dollars in this project. In 2020, he founded the “Bezos Earth Fund” and promised to invest $10 billion in the project.