Jeff Bezos
Born 1964 · Age 61
Founder and executive chairman of Amazon, founder of Blue Origin, owner of The Washington Post and Bezos Expeditions; prominent investor and philanthropist.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Born Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen to Jacklyn (Jackie) and Ted Jorgensen.
Parents file for divorce
Jeff's mother filed for divorce from his father; Jeff was about 17 months old.
Adopted by Miguel (Mike) Bezos
After his mother remarried Miguel Bezos, Miguel legally adopted Jeff and his surname changed to Bezos.
Attended Miami Palmetto High School (moved to Miami)
Family moved to Miami; Bezos attended Miami Palmetto High and worked part-time at McDonald's during high school.
Matriculated at Princeton University
Entered Princeton; initially majored in physics, later switched to electrical engineering and computer science.
High school valedictorian & Silver Knight Award
Graduated Miami Palmetto High School as valedictorian and won a Silver Knight Award; delivered a speech about colonizing space.
Joined Fitel (first post-college job)
Hired at Fitel, a fintech telecommunications start-up tasked with building a network for international trade; later promoted.
Graduated Princeton (BSE, summa cum laude)
Earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (electrical engineering & computer science), Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi.
Joined Bankers Trust as product manager
Transitioned into banking as a product manager at Bankers Trust (1988–1990).
Joined D. E. Shaw & Co.
Hired by hedge fund D. E. Shaw; rose quickly and became one of the firm's youngest senior VPs.
Married MacKenzie Tuttle
Married MacKenzie (later MacKenzie Scott), whom he met at D. E. Shaw.
Parents invested in Amazon
Accepted an estimated $300,000 investment from his parents to help start Amazon.
Founded Amazon (garage, Bellevue)
Left D. E. Shaw; with his wife founded Cadabra/Amazon after writing the business plan on a cross-country drive; started in a rented garage.
Amazon opens to public and sells first books
Website opened to the world; in 30 days sold in all 50 US states and dozens of countries; early sales grew rapidly.
Amazon IPO and $54M equity raised
Amazon went public (1997); raised about $54 million in the equity offering used to finance expansion and acquisitions.
Google stake becomes massive windfall
Original $250k Google investment later translated into millions of shares; by 2017 that holding was worth about $3.1B (estimate).
Amazon expands beyond books (music & video)
Diversified product offerings to include music, videos and a wider range of consumer goods.
Early investor in Google via Bezos Expeditions
Bezos invested $250,000 in Google in 1998 through Bezos Expeditions.
Named Time Person of the Year (Amazon coverage era)
Recognized by Time for influence during the dot-com era (Time Person of the Year 1999 featured Amazon growth).
Acquisitions during dot-com boom (pets.com, kozmo stake)
Amazon acquired a majority stake in pets.com (1999) and bought part of Kozmo (about $60M), moves that later failed with the dot-com crash.
Founded Blue Origin (aerospace company)
Started Blue Origin to pursue reusable rockets and human spaceflight.
Amazon cash crunch and bank borrowing
By end of 2000 Amazon's cash balance dipped to ~$350M and Bezos borrowed approximately $2 billion from banks to fund operations.
Launched Amazon Web Services (AWS)
AWS launched, initially aggregating data services and later evolving into a dominant cloud provider.
Amazon returns to profit ($35M)
After near-bankruptcy and restructuring, Amazon posted a $35 million profit in 2003.
Helicopter crash in West Texas (Blue Origin era)
Bezos was involved in a helicopter crash in West Texas in the early 2000s; he survived with minor injuries.
Blue Origin purchases West Texas launch land
Acquired a large tract in West Texas for launches and testing, establishing a private launch/test facility.
Launched the Amazon Kindle e-reader
Announced and launched the Kindle, a major product expansion into hardware and digital books.
Blue Origin prototype crash
An uncrewed prototype vehicle crashed during a short-hop test flight; seen as a setback during development.
Bezos Expeditions funds Saturn V engine recovery
Bezos Expeditions funded the recovery of two Saturn V F-1 engines from the Atlantic, identified as from Apollo 11 (July 1969) and displayed at Seattle Museum of Flight.
AWS secures CIA contract ($600M)
Amazon Web Services won a reported $600 million CIA cloud contract.
Announced purchase of The Washington Post ($250M)
Announced acquisition of The Washington Post and affiliated publications for $250 million in cash via Nash Holdings.
Acquisition of The Washington Post closed
Nash Holdings completed purchase and took control of The Washington Post.
New Shepard reaches space and lands vertically
Blue Origin's New Shepard reached above the Kármán line in an uncrewed flight and executed a vertical landing successfully.
Amazon Prime surpasses 100M paid members (reported)
Amazon reported crossing 100 million paid Prime subscribers (2018 letter noted 100M; growth milestone around this period).
Sold ~1M Amazon shares for $671M
Bezos sold slightly more than one million Amazon shares raising about $671 million.
Received James Smithson Bicentennial Medal
Awarded for contributions including those from Amazon.
Sold 1M Amazon shares for $756.7M
Sold another ~1 million shares for roughly $756.7 million.
Announced selling ~$1B/year in Amazon stock to fund Blue Origin
Bezos stated he would sell roughly $1 billion in Amazon stock annually to fund Blue Origin operations.
Amazon acquires Whole Foods ($13.7B)
Amazon announced and closed acquisition of Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion, expanding into grocery and brick-and-mortar.
Momentarily became world's richest person
Bezos briefly surpassed Bill Gates when his estimated net worth rose to just over $90 billion.
Net worth surpasses $100B
Bezos' net worth exceeded $100 billion for the first time.
Congressional interest in Rekognition (facial recognition)
Members of U.S. Congress called on Bezos/Amazon to disclose uses of Rekognition; growing scrutiny on AI/face-recognition tech.
Amazon raises $5.5B to expand India operations
Dispatched Amit Agarwal to India with $5.5 billion to localize operations and expand supply chain infrastructure in India.
Designated wealthiest person by Forbes ($112B)
Forbes formally designated Bezos the world's wealthiest person with estimated net worth ~$112 billion.
Named 'richest man in modern history' (~$150B)
Bezos' wealth increased to approximately $150 billion.
Launched Day 1 Fund & $2B pledge
Announced the Day 1 Fund focused on homelessness and preschools and pledged $2 billion to the initiative.
Company-wide wage increase to $15/hour
Announced increase in minimum Amazon hourly wage to $15 for U.S. employees.
Announced separation and divorce from MacKenzie
Bezos and MacKenzie Scott announced their separation (divorce later finalized in 2019).
First public appearance with Lauren Sánchez
Made first public appearance with Lauren Sánchez after divorce from MacKenzie.
Announced Bezos Earth Fund ($10B pledge)
Launched the Bezos Earth Fund committing $10 billion to fight climate change.
Net worth exceeds $200B
During the COVID-19 pandemic surge in Amazon stock, Bezos' estimated net worth surpassed $200 billion.
Announced intent to step down as CEO
Sent email to employees announcing he would step down as CEO later in 2021 to focus on other projects.
Stepped down as Amazon CEO; became Executive Chairman
On July 5, 2021 Bezos stepped down as CEO and transitioned to Executive Chairman; Andy Jassy became CEO.
Flew on Blue Origin NS-16
Bezos flew on Blue Origin's first crewed New Shepard flight (NS-16) with Mark Bezos, Wally Funk and Oliver Daemen; suborbital ~10 minutes.
Co-founded Altos Labs (announced)
Co-founded Altos Labs with Yuri Milner, a longevity-focused biotech company.
Amazon acquires MGM ($8.5B)
Amazon completed acquisition of MGM Studios for approximately $8.5 billion (2022).
Altos Labs launches with $3B start capital
Altos Labs left stealth mode and launched with reported start capital of about $3 billion and an executive team led by Hal Barron.
Blue Origin wins NASA lunar lander contract ($3.4B)
Blue Origin-led team awarded a $3.4 billion NASA contract for a human lunar lander (Artemis V work).
Engaged to Lauren Sánchez
Bezos and Lauren Sánchez announced their engagement publicly (May 2023).
Sold 24M Amazon shares worth ~$4B
Sold 24 million shares of Amazon for about $4 billion and announced intent to sell up to 50 million over next year.
Said he dedicates 95% of time to AI at Amazon
At DealBook Summit (Dec 2024), Bezos stated he was dedicating the majority of his time to Amazon's AI initiatives.
Blue Origin New Glenn first orbital mission
New Glenn completed its first successful orbital launch (January 16, 2025).
Net worth estimate exceeds $220B (Forbes May 2025)
Forbes estimated Bezos's net worth had exceeded $220 billion, ranking him among the world's top three wealthiest people.
Married Lauren Sánchez in Venice, Italy
Bezos married Lauren Sánchez in a multiday ceremony in Venice (estimated cost reported between $46M–$56M).
Forbes net worth snapshot ($239.8B)
Forbes reported an estimated net worth of about $239.8 billion (July 15, 2025).
Key Achievement Ages
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