Historical Figures Codexery

Jeff Bezos

Founder of Amazon, Blue Origin, and owner of The Washington Post.

Jeff Bezos

SECWAR · via Wikipedia: Jeff Bezos · Public domain

Jeffrey Preston Bezos was born on January 12, 1964, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[1] He is the founder and former CEO of Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce and cloud computing company.[2] Between 2017 and 2021, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and Forbes both ranked Bezos as the globe's richest individual.[3]

Quick Facts

Birth name
Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen
Born
12 January 1964
Birthplace
Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
Occupation
  • Businessman
  • media proprietor
  • investor
Education
Princeton University (BSE)
Known for
Founding Amazon
Children
4
Parents
  • Jackie Bezos (mother)
  • Ted Jorgensen (father)
  • Miguel Bezos (stepfather)

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

In spring 1994, he decided to establish an online bookstore after reading that web usage was growing at 2,300% a year.[4] He founded Amazon in a rented garage in Bellevue, Washington, on July 5, 1994.[4] Jacklyn, Bezos's mother, was a high school student aged 17 when she gave birth, and his biological father Ted was 19 years old at that time.[5] Following his parents' divorce, Jacklyn wed Miguel Bezos in April 1968; Miguel then adopted Jeff, who was four years old.[6]

Bezos earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, graduating summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1986.[7][8] The Amazon Kindle was introduced by Bezos in November 2007.[9] Bezos declared in February 2021 that he would leave the CEO position at Amazon in the third quarter of that year and assume the role of Executive Chairman.[10] Andy Jassy took over as CEO after Bezos stepped down.[10]

Blue Origin, a startup focused on human spaceflight, was established by Bezos in September 2000.[11]

What the cited sources add

The same source noted that editorial page staffers had drafted an endorsement of Kamala Harris.[12] The Washington Post reported that the decision not to publish was made by owner Jeff Bezos.[13] Three Washington Post editorial board members stepped down in protest.[14] The Washington Post lost 250,000 subscribers, or 10% of its customer base, after the decision.[15]

Former executive editor Marty Baron called the decision an act of "cowardice."[14] A CNN report indicated that Bezos prevented the Washington Post from endorsing a presidential candidate in 2024.[12] Columnist Michele Norris resigned, describing the decision as "a terrible mistake."[16]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Jeff Bezos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "UPI Almanac for Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020", United Press International, January 12, 2020; Robinson (2010), pp. 14, 100 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Jeff Bezos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Jeff Bezos pronounces his name", The Washington Post, 2009 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Jeff Bezos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Jeff Bezos"; "Jeff Bezos" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Jeff Bezos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Robinson (2010), pp. 9–12; Clifford, "How Amazon's Jeff Bezos went from the son of a teen mom to the richest person in the world", CNBC, October 27, 2017; "Top Executive Profiles – Jeffrey P. Bezos", Portfolio.com; Matsakis, "MacKenzie Bezos and the Myth of the Lone Genius Founder"; Taylor, "Who's Writing the Book on Web Business?", October 31, 1996 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Jeff Bezos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Robinson (2010), pp. 14–15; Brad Stone, (2013). The Everything Store. United States: Little, Brown.; "The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon", Little, Brown, October 15, 2013; Clifford, "Jeff Bezos's single teen mom brought him to night school with her when he was a baby", CNBC, June 14, 2019; Why Some Locals Are Skeptical About Jeff Bezos' Free Preschool Near Seattle , Forbes, October 14, 2020 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Jeff Bezos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stone, "The Secrets of Bezos: How Amazon Became the Everything Store", Bloomberg News, October 10, 2013; Stone, "The Everything Store", Little, Brown, 2013; Robinson (2010), pp. 14, 18; Robinson (2010), p. 15; Barr, "Bike shop owner discovers he's father of Amazon founder", USA Today, October 10, 2013 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Jeff Bezos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Deutschman, "Inside the Mind of Jeff Bezos", Fast Company, August 1, 2004; CNBC, "Jeff Bezos At The Economic Club Of Washington (9/13/18)", 13 September 2018; "The seeds of my success were sown in early childhood. UNICEF Sri Lanka", www.unicef.org; Wolfe, "Watch Jeff Bezos tell the funny story about the moment in college he realized he 'was never going to be a great theoretical physicist'", Business Insider; "Jeff Bezos wanted to be a physicist, but started Amazon after a friend showed him he wasn't smart enough", India Today, 24 September 2 en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Jeff Bezos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Robinson (2010), p. 26 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Jeff Bezos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Amazon: Reinventing the Book", Newsweek, November 17, 2007; Quittner, "The 2008 Time 100", May 12, 2008; Davenport, "How Jeff Bezos was selected for, but never joined, the Defense Innovation Board", The Washington Post, February 23, 2018; "Bezos: I never expected this'", Digital Commerce 360, January 4, 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Jeff Bezos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Amazon.com Announces Financial Results and CEO Transition"; Weise, "Jeff Bezos to Step Down as Amazon C.E.O.", The New York Times, February 2, 2021; Gartenberg, "Amazon will have a new CEO as Jeff Bezos transitions to executive chair later this year", The Verge, February 2, 2021; "Bezos' memo to fellow Amazonians", Amazon.com, February 2, 2021; "Bezos Day One Fund awards $110.5 million for homeless families", Philanthropy News Digest, November 20, 2024; "NBC News reports Jeff Bezos' intention to stand down as CEO of Amazon in the third quar en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Jeff Bezos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Boyle, "Blue Origin Revealed", MSNBC, December 9, 2011; Martinez, "Amazon.com's Bezos invests in space travel, time", The Seattle Times, March 31, 2012; "Taking the long view: Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief executive of Amazon, owes much of his success to his ability to look beyond the short-term view of things", The Economist, March 3, 2012; Whoriskey, "For Jeff Bezos, a new frontier", The Washington Post, August 12, 2013; "Former Blue Origin president Rob Meyerson leaves Jeff Bezos' space venture", GeekWire, November 8, 2018 (original n en.wikipedia.org
  12. Gold, "Washington Post won't endorse candidate in 2024 presidential election after Bezos decision", CNN, 2024-10-25. facts only, no text reused. cnn.com
  13. Mangan, "Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris, paper reports", CNBC, 2024-10-25. facts only, no text reused. cnbc.com
  14. Gold, "Three Washington Post editorial board members step down amid wave of canceled subscriptions over non-endorsement", CNN, 2024-10-28. facts only, no text reused. cnn.com
  15. Helmore, "Washington Post cancellations hit 250,000 – 10% of subscribers", The Guardian, 2024-10-29. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
  16. Chitwood, "Washington Post Columnist Michele Norris Resigns Over Bezos Scrapping Harris Endorsement: 'A Terrible Mistake'", TheWrap, 2024-10-27. facts only, no text reused. thewrap.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Jeff Bezos (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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