Jeff Bezos- Biography, Amazon, & Facts
Jeff Bezos, surname of Jeffrey Preston Bezos, (born January 12, 1964 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.), American entrepreneur who played a key role in the growth of e-commerce as the founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com, Inc., an online retailer of books and later of a variety of other products. Under his leadership, Amazon became the largest online store and the standard for Internet sales.
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Early life and profession
While still in high school, Bezos founded the Dream Institute, a centre that encouraged young people to think creatively. After receiving degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from Princeton University in 1986, he held a variety of positions before joining the New York investment bank D.E. Shaw & Co. in 1990. Bezos, the company’s youngest senior vice president, was soon tasked with analysing the Internet’s investment prospects. Its immense potential — Web usage was increasing by more than 2,000 percent each year — inspired his entrepreneurial spirit. He left D.E. Shaw in 1994 and relocated to Seattle, Washington, to create a virtual bookstore. Bezos began developing the software for the website in his garage with a handful of people. Amazon, named after a river in South America, sold its first book in July 1995.
Amazon.com
Amazon soon rose to the top of the e-commerce industry. The site was user-friendly and available 24 hours a day, encouraging visitors to post their own book reviews and providing discounts, tailored recommendations, and searches for out-of-print books. In June of 1998, it started selling CDs, and later that year, videos were added. In 1999, Bezos added auctions to Amazon.com and invested in other online retailers. Amazon’s success prompted other merchants, including large book chains, to open online stores.
As additional companies competed for Internet revenue, Bezos recognised the need to diversify. By 2005, Amazon provided a large selection of products, including consumer electronics, fashion, and hardware. Amazon furthered its diversification in 2006 by launching Amazon Web Services (AWS), a cloud-computing business that eventually became the largest of its kind. Amazon debuted the Kindle, a digital book reader with wireless Internet connectivity, at the end of 2007, allowing consumers to purchase, download, read, and save a huge variety of books on demand. Amazon stated in 2010 that Kindle book sales have overtaken hardcover book sales. Amazon’s Amazon Studios branch began producing its own television episodes and films in the same year. Amazon’s annual net sales rose from $510,000 in 1995 to over $600 million in 1998, then from more than $19.1 billion in 2008 to nearly $233 billion in 2018. AWS contributed over half of the company’s operating income in 2018. Two years later, Amazon achieved record profits, and for the first time, its fourth-quarter revenue reached $100 billion. During the COVID-19 epidemic, an increase in online buying contributed to the high numbers.
Bezos stated in February 2021 that he will step down as CEO later that year. However, Bezos intended to remain as executive chairman of Amazon.
Other pursuits
Bezos launched Blue Origin, a spaceflight firm, in the year 2000. Blue Origin planned to introduce a crewed suborbital spacecraft, New Shepard, in 2018 and an orbital launch vehicle, New Glenn, in 2020, shortly after purchasing a launch site in Texas. In 2013, Bezos purchased The Washington Post and related properties for $250 million. In 2018, Bezos’ net worth was estimated to be $112 billion, making him the world’s richest person.
Personal life
Bezos married Mackenzie Tuttle in 1993, after meeting her at D.E. Shaw. The couple announced their divorce in January 2019, and the following day, the National Enquirer revealed that Bezos was having an affair with another woman. Bezos started an investigation into how the tabloid acquired access to his private text exchanges. Then, in February, he published a lengthy essay online in which he accused officials at American Media Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer, of “extortion and bribery” for threatening to publish nude photographs of Bezos if he did not cease his investigation and comply with other demands. The investigation led by Bezos later concluded that his lover’s brother leaked the texts.
FAQs
Who is Jeff Bezos?
Jeff Bezos is an American entrepreneur who was instrumental in the development of e-commerce as the founder and CEO of Amazon.com, an online store. In 2020, his net worth was greater than $180 billion.
How did Jeff Bezos start Amazon?
In 1994, Jeff Bezos left his position at an investment bank and relocated to Seattle, Washington, to establish an online bookstore. Bezos began constructing the software for the website, which he named Amazon.com, in his garage with a handful of staff. In 1995, it sold its first book.
Where was Jeff Bezos born?
Jeff Bezos was born on January 12, 1964, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He spent his formative years in Houston, Texas, before moving to Miami, Florida.
Was Jeff Bezos born rich?
Jeff Bezos did not come from an affluent background. His parents were 17 and 18 years old when he was born, and he spent his early years working on his maternal grandparents’ ranch in Cotulla, Texas. He graduated from Princeton University with degrees in electrical engineering and computer science with honours in 1986.
What was Jeff Bezos’s first job?
Jeff Bezos’s first work was as a fry cook at a McDonald’s restaurant when he was a teenager. His hourly wage was less than $3. After graduating from Princeton University, he worked at Fitel, a startup in international trading.
