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| Jeff Bezos Founder of Amazon |
Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos, real name Jeffrey Preston Bezos, was a prominent figure in the development of e-commerce as the founder and CEO of Amazon.com, Inc., an online retailer of books and later of a wide range of goods. He was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on January 12, 1964. Under his leadership, Amazon grew to be the biggest online store and the standard for online commerce.
Category: History & Society
Born: January 12, 1964 (age 59) Albuquerque New Mexico
Title/Office: CEO, chairman, and president of Amazon.com (2000–present) owner of The Washington Post (2013–present) CEO and chairman of Amazon.com (1999–2000) CEO, chairman, and president of Amazon.com (1996–1999) chairman and president of Amazon.com (1994–1996)
Founder: Amazon.com Blue Origin
Notable Family Members: son of Miguel ("Mike") Bezos son of Jacklyn ("Jackie") Bezos son of Ted Jorgensen married to Mackenzie Scott (1993–2019) brother of Mark Bezos brother of Christina Bezos
Education: Miami Palmetto Senior High School (Miami, Florida) Princeton University (B.S., 1986)
Early life and career
Bezos founded the Dream Institute, a facility to. that encouraged young kids to think creatively, when he was still a high school student. He obtained degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from Princeton University in 1986 and worked in a number of positions before joining the New York investment bank D.E. Shaw & Co. in 1990. Bezos, the company's youngest senior vice president, was given the task of researching the investment opportunities presented by the Internet. His entrepreneurial mind was stirred by its immense potential—Web usage was increasing by more than 2,000% annually. 1994 saw him leave D.E. In 1990, Shaw & Co. Bezos, the company's youngest senior vice president, was given the task of researching the investment opportunities presented by the Internet. His entrepreneurial mind was stirred by its immense potential—Web usage was increasing by more than 2,000% annually. He left D.E. Shaw in 1994 and relocated to Seattle, Washington, where he started an online bookstore. Bezos started creating the site's software while working out of his garage with a small staff. In July 1995, Amazon, which is named after a river in South America, sold its first book.
Amazon rose to the top of the e-commerce industry swiftly. The site, which was accessible around-the-clock, encouraged users to publish their own book reviews and provided discounts, individualized book recommendations, and searches for out-of-print titles. It started selling CDs in June 1998, and later that year it also started selling videos. Bezos invested in additional online stores and added auctions to the website in 1999. Other merchants, including well-known book chains, were inspired to open online storefronts by Amazon's success.
Bezos saw the need for diversification as more businesses competed for Internet money, and by 2005, Amazon was selling a wide range of goods, including consumer electronics, clothing, and hardware. Introducing Amazon Web Services (AWS), a cloud computing service that eventually grew to be the biggest of its kind in the world, allowed Amazon to diversify even further in 2006. The Kindle is a digital book reader with wireless Internet connectivity that Amazon debuted in late 2007; it allows users to buy, download, read, and save a wide variety of books on demand.
In 2010, Amazon declared that Kindle book sales had overtaken hardback book sales. With the launch of its Amazon Studios business, Amazon began producing its own television programs and motion pictures. From $510,000 in 1995 to around $600 million in 1998, and from more than $19.1 billion in 2008 to almost $233 billion in 2018, Amazon's annual net sales soared. AWS accounted for about half of the business' operating income in 2018. Two years later, Amazon posted record profits and for the first time, its fourth-quarter revenue reached $100 billion. The COVID-19 epidemic led to an increase in house buying, which contributed in part to the historically high figures.
Amazon announced in 2010 that Kindle book sales have surpassed hardcover book sales. Amazon started making its own television shows and movies after launching its Amazon Studios division. The annual net sales of Amazon increased dramatically from $510,000 in 1995 to over $600 million in 1998 and from more than $19.1 billion to about $233 billion in 2018. About half of the company's operating revenue in 2018 came from AWS. Two years later, Amazon reported record earnings and its fourth-quarter revenue for the first time ever hit $100 billion. The COVID-19 pandemic increased home purchases, which in turn contributed to the historically high numbers.
Other activities
Bezos established Blue Origin, a spaceflight business, in 2000 in addition to Amazon. Soon after, Blue Origin purchased a launch site in Texas with plans to launch an orbital launch vehicle, New Glenn, in 2020 and a crewed suborbital spacecraft, New Shepard, in 2018. For $250 million, Bezos acquired The Washington Post and related publications in 2013. Bezos is the richest person in the world, with a net worth estimated at $112 billion in 2018.
Personal life
In 1993 Bezos married Mackenzie Tuttle, whom he had met at D.E. Shaw. The couple announced in January 2019 that they were divorcing, and the following day the National Enquirer printed a story revealing that Bezos was having an affair with another woman. Bezos subsequently launched an investigation into how the tabloid had obtained his private text messages. Then, in February, he posted a lengthy essay online in which he accused officials at American Media Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the Enquirer, of “extortion and bribery” for suggesting that they would release nude photographs of Bezos if he did not stop his inquiry, amid other demands. The Bezos-led investigation later alleged that his lover’s brother had leaked the texts.