Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen
9 min read
Reading time
1,712
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Published
19
Film credits
9
Awards
Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com in 1994, transforming e-commerce. He later founded Blue Origin and became the world’s richest person, with a net worth exceeding $150 billion. In 2021, he flew to the edge of space aboard Blue Origin NS-16. He also owns The Washington Post and has launched philanthropic initiatives like the Bezos Earth Fund.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Jeff Bezos — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Jeff Bezos by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Jeff Bezos — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Jeff Bezos grew up in Houston, Texas, after his mother remarried Cuban immigrant Mike Bezos. While in high school, he wrote a term paper on zero gravity and houseflies that won a trip to NASA. He graduated as valedictorian from Miami Palmetto High School in 1982 and earned a summa cum laude degree in electrical engineering and computer science from Princeton University in 1986.
Bezos worked at Fitel and Banker’s Trust before joining D.E. Shaw & Co. in 1990. In 1994, he left to launch Amazon.com from his garage. Amazon expanded from books to everything, becoming the second American company to reach a $1 trillion valuation. In 2000, he founded Blue Origin to lower spaceflight costs. He purchased The Washington Post in 2013. In 2021, he stepped down as CEO to become executive chairman.
Bezos married Mackenzie Tuttle in 1993; they had three sons, including Preston. The couple divorced in 2019. In 2023, he married media personality Lauren Sanchez in a ceremony in Venice, Italy, with Tom Brady, Bill Gates, and Oprah Winfrey among the guests.
Bezos reshaped retail and cloud computing with Amazon. His wealth enabled private spaceflight through Blue Origin. He was named Time Person of the Year in 1999 and received the Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space Commercialization. He remains a polarizing figure, remembered for his relentless focus on customer obsession and long-term thinking.
The complete filmography of Jeff Bezos — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Jeff Bezos — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Jeff Bezos — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
What Consumerism Really Is, at Its Worst, Is Getting People to Buy Things That Don’t Actually Improve Their Lives.
The Common Question That Gets Asked in Business Is ‘Why?’. That’s a Good Question, but an Equally Valid Question Is ‘Why Not?’.
I Don’t Want to Use My Creative Energy on Somebody Else’s User Interface.
A Brand for a Company Is Like a Reputation for a Person. You Earn Reputation by Trying to Do Hard Things Well.
There Are Two Kinds of Companies: Those That Work to Try to Charge More and Those That Work to Charge Less. We Will Be the Second.
I Don’t Know About You, but Most of My Exchanges with Cashiers Are Not That Meaningful.
There Are Two Ways to Extend a Business. Take Inventory of What You’re Good at and Extend Out from Your Skills. or Determine What Your Customers Need and Work Backward, Even If It Requires Learning New Skills. ‘Kindle’ Is an Example of Working Backwards.
It’s Not an Experiment If You Know It’s Going to Work.
I Very Much Believe the Internet Is Indeed All It Is Cracked up to Be.
I Think Frugality Drives Innovation, Just Like Other Constraints Do. One of the Only Ways to Get Out of a Tight Box Is to Invent Your Way Out.
Little-known facts about Jeff Bezos — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
As founder and executive chairman of Amazon.com, Bezos built the world’s largest online retailer.
Forbes magazine dubbed him the richest man in modern history when his net worth hit $150 billion.
His last name changed from Jorgensen to Bezos at age four after his mother married Miguel Bezos.
Amazon became the second American company after Apple to reach a $1 trillion valuation.
He suffers from ptosis, a drooping of the upper eyelid sometimes called lazy eye.
In high school, he wrote a term paper on zero gravity and the aging of houseflies, winning a NASA trip.
He left D.E. Shaw in 1994 to launch Amazon after his bosses declined his idea for an online bookstore.
He earns approximately $230,000 per minute, or $331,200,000 per day.
He appeared on the Time 100 list five times 2008, 2009, 2014, 2017, 2018, with a tribute by Buzz Aldrin.
Bloomberg reported his net worth reached $100 billion in 2017, making him only the second person after Bill Gates to hit that milestone.
He graduated summa cum laude from Princeton in 1986, switching from physics to electrical engineering and computer science.
His first post-college job was at Fitel, a fintech company, in 1986; he later moved to Banker’s Trust.
He owns the major newspaper The Washington Post.
He attended Miami Palmetto Senior High School, graduating as valedictorian in 1982, and worked at McDonald’s as a short-order cook.
A self-proclaimed Star Trek fan, he cameoed as a Starfleet official in Star Trek Beyond 2016.
He stepped down as Amazon CEO in 2021, becoming executive chairman; Andy Jassy succeeded him.
He flew to the edge of space aboard Blue Origin NS-16 in 2021, reaching 107 km altitude with his brother Mark.
He married Lauren Sanchez in 2023 at the basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, Italy, with celebrity guests.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Jeff Bezos.
Celebrities similar to Jeff Bezos — same craft, ranked by reach.
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