Jeffrey Preston Bezos, better known as Jeff Bezos, is the founder and former chief executive officer of e-commerce giant Amazon. He is an entrepreneur, investor and media proprietor. His lucrative ventures have made him one of the richest people in the world, and Bezos has been named the "richest man in modern history" on the Forbes wealth index.
Early career of Jeff Bezos
After graduating from Princeton University, Jeff Bezos started a job at a fintech telecommunications start-up, Fitel. Within months, he was promoted as the director of customer service. He shifted to the banking industry and later joined D E Shaw & Co, a newly founded hedge fund. At the age of 30, he was appointed D E Shaw's senior vice-president.
Jeff Bezos as an internet entrepreneur
In 1993, Bezos quit D E Shaw to establish an online bookstore by taking financial help from his parents and other investors. Amazon, which took shape in his garage, was initially named Cadabra but renamed later. Within two months, Amazon’s sales reached $20,000 a week, growing faster than Jeff Bezos had envisioned. Amazon.com went public with an initial public offering (IPO) in 1997. By 1998, the online bookstore expanded to other products, notably CDs and videos in 1998, and clothes, electronics, toys and more through major retail partnerships later. While many dot.coms failed in the 90s, Amazon flourished.
Bezos as an aerospace entrepreneur
Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000. This company develops technologies to lower the cost of space travel. For over a decade, the firm operated in the shadows, but Bezos in 2016 introduced its headquarters to reporters and revealed his vision of humans not only visiting the space but also colonising it. Two years later, he revealed the Blue Origin moon lander, which had been conducting test flights of its suborbital New Shepard rocket.
Bezos as a media proprietor
In 2013, Bezos entered the media business by purchasing American newspaper The Washington Post for $250 million in cash.
Jeff Bezos' net worth
Jeff Bezos is the wealthiest person alive and is also the first person in modern history to accumulate a fortune of over $100 billion. He has an estimated net worth of $156 billion. Bezos remains Amazon's largest stockholder and is one of the US' biggest landowners. Bezos also owns a $65 million Gulfstream G650ER private jet.
Jeff Bezos' personal life
Bezos, born on January 12, 1964, is from Albuquerque in New Mexico. He attended a science training programme at the University of Florida. In 1986, he graduated from Princeton University in Bachelors of Science in Engineering in electrical engineering and computer science.
In February 2019, Jeff Bezos and his wife filed for divorce after 25 years of marriage. The news had been announced by the couple on Twitter on January 9, 2019.
Jeff Bezos’ philanthropy
Bezos is often referred to as a cheapskate when it comes to giving away money. However, according to the Philanthropy 50 list 2019, he made the most charitable donations. Read More on..
