American entrepreneur Jeff Bezos is the founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com and owner of 'The Washington Post.' His successful business ventures have made him one of the richest people in the world.
Bezos was born on January 12, 1964, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At birth he was actually named Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen. After his mother divorced his father, she married Cuban immigrant Miguel “Mike” Bezos in April 1968. At age four, Miguel Bezos adopted him and his surname was then changed to Bezos. The family then moved to Houston, Texas. In high school, the family moved to Miami, Florida.
What is Jeff Bezos’s net worth* over the years?
September 2014: $30.5 billion
March 2015: $34.8 billion
September 2015: $47 billion
March 2016: $45.2 billion
October 2016: $67 billion
March 2017: $72.8 billion
October 2017: $81.5 billion
March 2018: $112 billion
October 2018: $160 billion
March 2019: $131 billion
*According to Forbes
Jeff Bezos’s career path
Fitel
After graduating from Princeton in 1988, Bezos had job offers from Intel, Bell Labs, and Anderson Consulting. Bezos turned those down to start at fintech telecommunications start-up Fitel.
Bankers Trust
In 1988 Bezos transitioned into the banking industry, becoming a product manager at Bankers Trust.
D. E. Shaw & Co.
In 1990 Bezos left Bankers Trust to join a newly founded hedge fund, D. E. Shaw & Co. At 30-years-old, Bezos became the hedge fund’s fourth senior vice-president. Bezos worked here until 1994, when he left to start Amazon after writing up the business plan on a road trip from New York to Seattle.
Amazon
Bezos drew up the Amazon business plan on a road trip from New York to Seattle. In 1993, he left his job at D.E. Shaw to start Amazon from his garage. He received an estimated $300,000 to invest in Amazon from his parents. He originally titled the company Cadabra, but changed it to name it after the Amazon River. Bezos warned early investors that there was a 70% chance that it would fail.
Blue Origin
Bezos founded Blue Origin in September 2000. The human spaceflight startup company purchased a large tract of land in West Texas in 2006 for a launch and test facility.
The Washington Post
Bezos bought The Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million. The newspaper has flourished under his ownership, adding more than 200 employees and surpassing one million digital subscribers.
Jeff Bezos' Family
Jeff Bezos was born on January 12, 1964, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to a teenage mother, Jacklyn Gise Jorgensen, and his biological father, Ted Jorgensen.
The Jorgensens were married less than a year. When Bezos was 4 years old, his mother remarried Mike Bezos, a Cuban immigrant.
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