Jeff Bezos facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jeff Bezos
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Bezos in 2017
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Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen
January 12, 1964 Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
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| Education | Princeton University (BSE) |
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| Known for | Founding Amazon |
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| Children | 4 |
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| Relatives | Mark Bezos (half-brother) |
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Jeffrey Preston Bezos (born January 12, 1964) is an American businessman. He is best known for starting Amazon. Amazon is one of the world's largest companies for online shopping and cloud computing. As of May 2025, Forbes magazine estimated his wealth to be over $220 billion. This made him the third richest person in the world. He was the wealthiest person globally from 2017 to 2021.
Bezos grew up in Houston and Miami. He earned degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from Princeton University in 1986. He worked on Wall Street before starting Amazon in 1994. Amazon began as an online bookstore. It quickly grew to sell many other products and services. These include video streaming, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. Amazon is now the biggest online sales company. It also provides virtual assistants and cloud services through Amazon Web Services.
In 2000, Bezos started Blue Origin. This company builds rockets and offers sub-orbital spaceflight. Blue Origin's New Shepard vehicle reached space in 2015. Bezos himself flew into space on Blue Origin in 2021. He also bought The Washington Post newspaper in 2013. He manages other investments through his company, Bezos Expeditions. In 2021, he co-founded Altos Labs, a biotechnology company.
Bezos was the first person to have a net worth over $100 billion on the Forbes Real Time Billionaires Index. In July 2018, his wealth reached $150 billion. In August 2020, it went over $200 billion. On July 5, 2021, Bezos stepped down as Amazon's CEO. He became the executive chairman instead.
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Early Life and School
Bezos was born Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen on January 12, 1964. His mother, Jacklyn, was 17. His father, Ted Jorgensen, was 19. Jeff attended a Montessori school in Albuquerque.
His parents divorced when he was 17 months old. In 1968, his mother married Miguel "Mike" Bezos. Mike adopted 4-year-old Jeff, and his last name changed to Bezos. The family moved to Houston, Texas. Mike worked as an engineer for Exxon. Jeff went to River Oaks Elementary School there.
Jeff spent many summers on his grandfather's ranch in Texas. He showed an early interest in science and technology. He even set up an electric alarm to keep his younger siblings out of his room! The family later moved to Miami, Florida. Jeff worked at McDonald's in high school.
He was a top student and dreamed of humans living in space. After high school, he went to Princeton University. He first studied physics but changed to electrical engineering and computer science. He graduated in 1986 with high honors.
Business Adventures
Starting His Career
After college, Bezos received job offers from companies like Intel. He first worked at Fitel, a company that built networks for international trade. He then moved to the banking industry at Bankers Trust. From 1990 to 1994, he worked at D. E. Shaw & Co., a company that used math to make investments. He became a senior vice-president there by age 30.
Building Amazon
In 1994, Bezos learned that internet use was growing very fast. He decided to start an online bookstore. He and his wife, MacKenzie Scott, left their jobs. They started Amazon in a rented garage in Bellevue, Washington. They wrote the business plan during a road trip from New York City to Seattle.
Bezos first named the company Cadabra. He later changed it to Amazon, like the Amazon River. He chose this name because it starts with 'A'. Websites were often listed in alphabetical order back then. He also thought the name of the world's largest river fit his goal for the world's largest online bookstore. His parents invested about $300,000 in Amazon. He warned early investors that Amazon had a 70% chance of failing.
Amazon started as a bookstore, but Bezos always planned to sell other things. Three years after starting, Amazon became a public company. In 1998, Amazon began selling music and videos. By the end of that year, it sold many other consumer goods.
Amazon faced tough times around 2000. Bezos borrowed money and closed some centers. He also laid off some workers. But in 2003, Amazon made a profit of $35 million.
In 2007, Bezos launched the Amazon Kindle. This device allowed people to read books digitally. In 2013, Amazon Web Services got a big contract with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). By October 2013, Amazon was the world's largest online shopping company.
Bezos sold some of his Amazon shares in 2016 to fund other projects. In 2017, Amazon hired 130,000 new employees. By January 2018, his Amazon stock was worth over $109 billion. Amazon reported its highest profit ever in February 2018. Bezos has also shown interest in expanding Amazon into India. In July 2017, he briefly became the world's richest person. By March 2018, Forbes officially named him the wealthiest person, with $112 billion.
In 2018, Amazon faced some criticism. Some people accused Amazon of not paying enough taxes. Senator Bernie Sanders also criticized Amazon for its worker wages. He suggested that Bezos should pay his workers a living wage. On October 2, 2018, Bezos announced a company-wide wage increase. The minimum wage for American workers rose to $15 per hour.
In February 2021, Bezos announced he would step down as Amazon's CEO. He became the Executive Chairman of the Amazon Board. Andy Jassy took over as CEO. Bezos said this change would give him more time to focus on his other interests. These include the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, and The Washington Post. In February 2024, Bezos sold 24 million Amazon shares worth $4 billion. He plans to sell 50 million shares over the next year. In December 2024, Bezos said he was spending 95% of his time on artificial intelligence at Amazon.
Blue Origin: Space Dreams
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In September 2000, Bezos started Blue Origin. This company focuses on human spaceflight. Bezos has always been interested in space travel. In high school, he talked about building hotels and colonies for humans in orbit. He wanted to protect Earth from overuse.
Blue Origin kept a low profile until 2006. That year, it bought land in West Texas for a launch site. Bezos wants to make space travel cheaper and safer. In 2011, one of the company's test vehicles crashed. But the company continued to make progress. Bezos often wears his "lucky" cowboy boots to rocket launches.
In 2015, Blue Origin's New Shepard vehicle successfully flew into space. It reached an altitude of over 100 kilometers (62 miles). Then, it landed vertically back on Earth. Bezos believes in using space for energy and manufacturing. This could help reduce pollution on Earth.
In December 2017, New Shepard successfully flew with test dummies. Blue Origin plans to build six vehicles for testing and commercial flights. Since 2016, Bezos has sold $1 billion in Amazon stock each year to fund Blue Origin. His main goal for Blue Origin is to help humans become a "multi-planetary" species. This would protect Earth's natural resources. In July 2018, it was announced that spaceflight tickets would cost between $200,000 and $300,000 per person.
Spaceflight Journey
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Jeff Bezos
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Commercial Astronaut |
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| Selection | Blue Origin |
| Missions | NS-16 |
On July 20, 2021, Bezos flew into space on the NS-16 mission. His half-brother Mark Bezos, Wally Funk, and Oliver Daemen joined him. His flight lasted over 10 minutes and reached an altitude of about 66.5 miles (107 km).
Owning The Washington Post
On August 5, 2013, Bezos bought The Washington Post newspaper for $250 million. He created a company called Nash Holdings to own it. The sale was completed on October 1, 2013.
Bezos wanted to make the newspaper a modern media and technology company. He focused on its digital platforms and software. After these changes, the paper became profitable again in 2016. This was the first time since Bezos bought it.
Bezos Expeditions: Investments and Giving
Bezos makes personal investments through his company, Bezos Expeditions. He was an early investor in Google in 1998. He invested $250,000, which was worth about $3.1 billion in 2017. He has also invested in companies that research how to slow aging. Bezos Expeditions also supports healthcare companies.
In January 2018, Bezos announced a new healthcare company. It is a partnership between Amazon, JPMorgan, and Berkshire Hathaway. This venture is called Haven.
Bezos Expeditions also funds good causes. It helped create an Innovation center at the Seattle Museum of History and Industry. It also funded the Bezos Center for Neural Circuit Dynamics at Princeton Neuroscience Institute. In 2013, Bezos Expeditions paid to recover parts of Saturn V rocket engines from the Atlantic Ocean. These engines were from the Apollo 11 mission. They are now on display at the Seattle Museum of Flight.
Altos Labs: Life Extension Research
In September 2021, Bezos co-founded Altos Labs with Mail.ru founder Yuri Milner. Altos Labs is a biotechnology company. It focuses on using cellular reprogramming to develop ways to extend life. The company has hired many famous scientists. Altos Labs officially launched on January 19, 2022, with $3 billion in funding.
Awards and Honors
- In 1999, Time magazine named him Person of the Year.
- In 2008, U.S. News & World Report called him one of America's best leaders.
- He received an honorary degree from Carnegie Mellon University in 2008.
- In 2011, The Economist gave him an Innovation Award for the Amazon Kindle.
- Fortune named him Businessperson of the Year in 2012.
- From 2014 to 2018, Harvard Business Review ranked him the best-performing CEO in the world.
- In 2016, he won the Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space Commercialization. He donated the $250,000 prize to students interested in space.
- In 2018, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
- He received the Buzz Aldrin Space Exploration Award in 2018 for his work with Blue Origin.
- Time magazine has named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world five times.
- In 2019, he was inducted into the Living Legends of Aviation.
- In February 2023, Bezos received the Légion d'honneur, France's highest award.
Wealth and Giving Back
Bezos became a millionaire in 1997 after Amazon's public stock offering. In 1999, he was first listed on the Forbes World's Billionaires list with $10.1 billion. His wealth grew over the years, with some ups and downs.
In July 2017, he briefly became the world's wealthiest person. By November 2017, his net worth passed $100 billion. In March 2018, he was officially named the wealthiest person, with $112 billion. He was the first person to reach $100 billion (not adjusted for inflation).
In 2019, Bezos's wealth was affected by his divorce from MacKenzie Scott. She received 25% of their Amazon shares, valued at about $36 billion at the time. Bezos kept his interest in The Washington Post and Blue Origin.
Bezos has bought several expensive properties. In 2019, he bought three apartments in Manhattan for $80 million. In 2020, he bought the Warner Estate in Los Angeles for $165 million. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his fortune grew as more people shopped online. He also owns a very large luxury superyacht. As of February 2024, his net worth was about $197 billion.
Helping Others
Bezos has donated to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. In 2013, he gave $500,000 to Worldreader, a non-profit that promotes reading. In May 2017, he donated $1 million to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
In September 2018, Bezos announced a $2 billion fund. This fund helps with homelessness in the U.S. and creates non-profit preschools for low-income families. This includes the "Day 1 Families Fund" for shelters and day care, and the "Day 1 Academies Fund" for early education.
In January 2018, Bezos donated $33 million to TheDream.US. This fund provides college scholarships for young undocumented immigrants. In June 2018, he donated to Breakthrough Energy Ventures, which supports emissions-free energy. He also gave $10 million to With Honor, an organization that helps veterans run for political office.
In February 2020, Bezos pledged $10 billion to fight climate change through the Bezos Earth Fund. In November 2020, he announced $791 million in donations to well-known environmental groups. In April 2020, he donated $100 million to food banks during the COVID-19 pandemic. In November 2021, he pledged $2 billion for food systems and nature conservation.
In July 2021, Bezos started the Courage and Civility Award. He gave $100 million each to lawyer Van Jones and chef José Andrés. The next year, he donated $100 million to singer Dolly Parton for her work on children's literacy. In March 2024, he donated $50 million each to actress Eva Longoria and retired admiral Bill McRaven.
Bezos Academy is a group of free preschools for children from low-income families. They use a method similar to Montessori. In November 2022, Bezos gave $123 million to organizations that help homeless families find permanent housing.
Personal Life
In 1992, Bezos met novelist MacKenzie Tuttle at work. They married a year later. They moved to Seattle, Washington, where Bezos started Amazon. Bezos and MacKenzie have four children: three sons and a daughter adopted from China.
In March 2003, Bezos was in a helicopter crash in West Texas. Everyone survived, and Bezos had only minor injuries.
Bezos appeared as a Starfleet official in the 2016 movie Star Trek Beyond. He is a big fan of Star Trek. His family company, Zefram LLC, is named after a character from the show.
In January 2019, Bezos and MacKenzie announced their divorce after 25 years. The divorce was finalized on April 4, 2019. Bezos kept 75% of the couple's Amazon stock. He also kept all the voting rights for the shares. Bezos became engaged to media personality Lauren Sánchez in May 2023. The couple married in Venice on June 27, 2025.
Bezos is the Honorary Chair of The Explorers Club.
Politics and Public Life
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Bezos has supported political campaigns for both Democratic and Republican politicians. In 2012, he and MacKenzie donated $2.5 million to support the legalization of same-sex marriage in Washington state.
In 2014, Amazon won a $600 million contract with the CIA for cloud computing. In 2019, Amazon filed a lawsuit when a large Pentagon contract went to Microsoft instead. Amazon claimed the bidding process was unfair. The Pentagon later canceled that contract in 2021.
In 2019, a political group linked to Bezos spent over $1 million to try and defeat a Seattle city council member. On November 22, 2021, Jeff Bezos donated $100 million to the Obama Foundation. He asked for the Obama Presidential Center's plaza to be named after John Lewis.
Relationship with Donald Trump
After the 2016 presidential election, Bezos was invited to join Donald Trump's Defense Innovation Advisory Board. Trump had often criticized Bezos on social media. He accused Bezos of avoiding taxes and having too much political influence. However, Bezos congratulated Trump on his second election victory in 2024. He wished Trump success in leading America.
Since 2023, Bezos has lived in Indian Creek, Florida, near Trump's Mar-a-Lago. Reports in February 2025 suggested a growing closeness between Bezos and Trump. Bezos had a private phone call with Trump in July 2024. After Trump's November victory, Bezos dined with Elon Musk and Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Amazon also donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration. Bezos attended the inauguration. They met for dinner again in February 2025.
The Financial Times noted that Bezos's relationship with Trump changed. Bezos reportedly supports Trump to help his business interests. His life changes, like stepping down as Amazon CEO and focusing on Blue Origin, may have also changed his political views.
Saudi Hacking Claim
In March 2018, Bezos met with Mohammad bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. They discussed business investments. In March 2019, Bezos's security consultant accused the Saudi government of hacking Bezos's phone. This was linked to The Washington Post's reporting on the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Khashoggi worked for the Post and was critical of the Saudi government. The Guardian reported in January 2020 that the hack happened before Khashoggi's murder. Saudi Arabia has denied these claims.
Interesting Facts About Jeff Bezos
- As a child, Jeff was very interested in science. He once set up an electric alarm to keep his younger siblings out of his room.
- In high school, he worked at McDonald's as a cook.
- He was the top student in his high school class.
- While at Princeton, he was president of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS).
- Bezos became a millionaire in 1997 after Amazon's first stock offering.
- He was the first person to have a net worth of $150 billion in July 2018, making him the "richest man in modern history" at that time.
- He owns a very large luxury superyacht called the Y721.
- He had a small role as a Starfleet official in the 2016 movie Star Trek Beyond.
- Bezos's family company, Zefram LLC, is named after Zefram Cochrane, a character from Star Trek.
- He is the Honorary Chair of The Explorers Club.
Jeff Bezos' Quotes
- "Life's too short to hang out with people who aren't resourceful."
- "If you can't tolerate critics, don't do anything new or interesting."
- "I believe you have to be willing to be misunderstood if you're going to innovate."
- "What's dangerous is not to evolve."
- "A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well."
See also
In Spanish: Jeff Bezos para niños
- List of Princeton University alumni
- List of richest Americans in history
- List of Time Person of the Year recipients
- The World's Billionaires
