[143][144], During the early 2010s, Bezos solidified his reputation for aggressive business practices, and his public image began to shift. [92] Rob Meyerson led Blue Origin from 2003 to 2017 and served as its first president. His one line consisted of a response to an alien in distress: "Speak Normally." [38][39] While at Princeton, Bezos was a member of the Quadrangle Club, one of Princeton's 11 eating clubs. He worked on Wall Street in a variety of related fields from 1986 to early 1994. Then Bezos called his bluff", "Why Amazon's collaboration with the CIA is so ominous and vulnerable", "DoD's $10B cloud contract comes under protest 11 days after final RFP", "Microsoft wins Pentagon's $10bn cloud computing contract", "Amazon suing Pentagon over $10B cloud contract, alleging 'bias', "Pentagon cancels $10 billion JEDI cloud contract that Amazon and Microsoft were fighting over", "Amazon Pushes ICE to Buy Its Face Recognition Surveillance Tech", "Amazon's growing spending on Seattle politics includes a spate of donations from Jeff Bezos' 'S Team', "Jeff Bezos donates $100M to the Obama Foundation in honor of Congressman John Lewis", "Jeff Bezos donates to Obama Foundation in honor of John Lewis", "Saudi crown prince meets Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in Seattle", "Saudi Arabia 'hacked Amazon boss's phone', says investigator", "Jeff Bezos hack: Amazon boss's phone 'hacked by Saudi crown prince', "Jeff Bezos hack: Saudi Arabia calls claim 'absurd', "Fred Hutch receives $35million donation, largest ever, from Bezos family", "Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and family donate $20M to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center", "Jeff Bezos is the richest man in modern history here's how he spends on philanthropy", "Unanswered questions about Jeff Bezos' new $2billion philanthropic fund", "Jeff Bezos just gave $1million to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press", "Jeff Bezos wants to give more money to charity. Got a confidential news tip? [280], In January 2020, The Guardian reported that the hack was initiated before the murder but after Khashoggi wrote critically about the crown prince in the Washington Post. "I don't want to drag anybody around," he said . [113] In January 2016, Bezos set out to reinvent the newspaper as a media and technology company by reconstructing its digital media, mobile platforms, and analytics software. After a pair of weekend reportsindicating that Snyder wont sell the team to Bezos, A.J. As of now, players who join are not eligible for collegiate-level play. [168] Bezos has cited Jeff Immelt (of New Enterprise Associates),[169] Warren Buffett (of Berkshire Hathaway), Jamie Dimon (of JPMorgan Chase), and Bob Iger (of Walt Disney) as major influences on his leadership style. [51] He favored diverting Amazon profits back into the company in lieu of allocating it amongst shareholders in the form of dividends. For other people with the surname, see, Wealthiest people in the United States by state, All currency figures expressed in the United States dollar (US$) in, Many calculations of Bezos's wealth during the late 2010s were not, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space Commercialization, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as minors, 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, "Riding the Wild, Perilous Waters of Amazone.com", "Jeff Bezos Is Getting Astronaut Wings. [22] Shortly after the wedding, Mike adopted four-year-old Jeff whose surname was then legally changed from Jorgensen to Bezos. The company said its content is streamed more than 1.7 billion times a month across all social platforms. [10] In 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, his wealth grew by approximately $24billion. [96] After the crash, Bezos has been superstitiously wearing his "lucky" Texas Cowboy boots to all rocket launches. Nonetheless, he certainly has enough money to buy a sports team with the fortune he has accumulated from Amazon. Whether it is his business life or fitness life, Jeff Bezos has always been the alpha of both. His wealth surpassed $100billion for the first time on November 24, 2017, and he was formally designated the wealthiest person in the world by Forbes on March 6, 2018, with a net worth of $112billion. [269] Controversy over this was raised when General James Mattis accepted a headquarters tour invitation from Bezos and co-ordinated the deal through Sally Donnelly, a lobbyist who previously worked for Amazon. [203] Bezos was officially ranked as the third-wealthiest person in the world, up from the 5th spot in 2016. He should pay his workers first", "If Jeff Bezos wants to help low-income people why not just pay them better? But he's now out of the NFL and working as the head coach of the XFL's Houston Roughnecks And Phillips - part of a first family of football in Houston thanks to Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. Overtime is a media company that distributes original sports content on social media outlets, including Snapchat, YouTube and Facebook. Notably, journalist Brad Stone wrote a book that described Bezos as a demanding boss as well as hyper-competitive,[133][140] and opined that Bezos perhaps "bet the biggest on the Internet" than anyone else. [107] In July 2018, it was announced that Bezos had priced commercial spaceflight tickets from $200,000 to $300,000 per person.[108]. The hour glass appears to be running out on Snyder's ownership of the Commanders. The Washington Post reported that Jones may be leaning on Dan Snyder to sell [160] Journalist Walt Mossberg dubbed the idea that someone who cannot tolerate criticism or critique shouldn't do anything new or interesting "The Bezos Principle". Shaw in 1994 and moved to Washington State to start Amazon as an Internet bookstore. [63], In May 2016, Bezos sold slightly more than one million shares of his holdings in the company for $671million, the largest sum he had ever raised from selling some of his Amazon stock. Jeff Bezos once tried to buy the Seattle Seahawks, even when they werent selling. Altos Labs is a generously funded biotechnology company dedicated to harnessing cellular reprogramming to develop longevity therapeutics. [186] His net worth decreased to $6.1billion a year later, a 40.5% drop. [233], Bezos is the owner of the Y721, a luxury superyacht estimated to cost more than $500,000,000. The hour glass appears to be running out on Bezos founded the aerospace manufacturer and sub-orbital spaceflight services company Blue Origin in 2000. [206] He is considered the first registered centi-billionaire (not adjusted for inflation). Brin said in a blog post from 2008 that he [45][43], In late 1993, Bezos read that the Internet was growing at a rate of 2300% a year and decided to establish an online bookstore. [191] After the financial crisis and succeeding economic recession, his net worth would decrease to $6.8billiona 17.7% drop. Their returns? [251][252] All survived; Bezos sustained only minor injuries and was discharged from a local hospital the same day. Billionaire Amazon and Washington Post Owner Jeff Bezos has reportedly come up short in his bid to buy the Washington Commanders football team. [143] Additionally, Bezos reportedly pitted Amazon teams against each other, and once declined to give Amazon employees city bus passes in order to discourage them from leaving the office. [40] In addition, he was elected to Tau Beta Pi and was the president of the Princeton chapter of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS). Although he does not respond to the emails, he forwards some of them with a question mark in the subject line to executives who attempt to address the issues. On October 10, 2017, he made an estimated $6.24billion in 5 minutes, slightly less than the annual gross domestic product of Kyrgyzstan. Bezos affinity for the Seahawks goes back to 2019 when he attempted to woo the owners into selling the franchise to him. [51] At the time, website listings were alphabetized, so a name starting with "A" would appear sooner when customers conducted online searches. [154][28] Bezos has been known to publicly contest claims made in critical articles, as exemplified in 2015 when he sent a memo to employees denouncing a New York Times piece. [201] His net worth surpassed $100billion for the first time on November 24, 2017, after Amazon's share price increased by more than 2.5%. As CBS Sports reported back in 2019, Bezos spent some time getting close with several owners back then and he had "strong support within the league" to become an owner at that point. [61] In 2013, Bezos secured a $600-million contract with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on behalf of Amazon Web Services. [295][bettersourceneeded] In June 2018, Bezos donated to Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a private philanthropic fund founded by Bill Gates aimed at promoting emissions-free energy. [44] Bezos was promoted to head of development and director of customer service thereafter. [238][239], In January 2019, Bezos and his wife Mackenzie Scott released a joint statement which revealed that they would be getting divorced after 25 years together. [7] The company has recruited prominent scientists such as Juan Carlos Izpisa Belmonte (known for work on rejuvenation through reprogramming), Steve Horvath (known for work in epigenetic aging clocks), and Shinya Yamanaka (the Nobel Prize-winning inventor of cellular reprogramming in mammalian cells). [143], Throughout his early years of ownership of The Washington Post, Bezos was accused of having a potential conflict of interest with the paper. [92][248] Bezos and MacKenzie have not disclosed their religious status. [99], In 2015, Bezos announced that a new orbital launch vehicle was under development and would make its first flight in the late-2010s. The letter demanded "Fair wages; fair benefits for retirement, family leave and health care; and a fair amount of job security. [25] Jeff's maternal grandfather was Lawrence Preston Gise, a regional director of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in Albuquerque. [1/2] Sep 15, 2022; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos in attendance before the Kansas City Chiefs play against the Los Angeles [155][156], Day 1: start upDay 2: stasisDay 3: irrelevanceDay 4: "excruciating, painful decline"Day 5: death, Bezos has stated "it is always Day 1" to describe his growth mindset. Bezos started to wear tailored clothing; he weight trained, pursued a regimented diet and began to freely spend his money. Jeff Bezos quit his job at an investment bank in 1994 and moved to Seattle, Washington, to open a virtual bookstore. [55] Although Amazon was originally an online bookstore, Bezos had always planned to expand to other products. [43] He first worked at Fitel, a fintech telecommunications start-up, where he was tasked with building a network for international trade. Retail [102], In December 2017, New Shepard successfully flew and landed dummy passengers, amending and pushing its human space travel start date into late 2018. We Have 4 Guesses", "Jeff Bezos to fund schools where 'child will be the customer' with new charity", "Jeff Bezos to Create $2 Billion Fund for Homeless, Preschools", "Jeff Bezos Unveils Multibillion-Dollar Plans For Charitable Giving", "Jeff Bezos donates $33million to scholarship fund for 'dreamers', "Backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, Breakthrough Energy Ventures places first bets on power storage", "Jeff Bezos donates $10million to organization that helps veterans run for office", "Amazon founder Jeff Bezos commits $10bn to fight climate change", "Jeff Bezos: World's richest man pledges $10bn to fight climate change", "Bezos Earth Fund announces first grants totaling $791M of his $10B pledge to help planet", "Bezos Earth Fund gives nearly $800 million to climate groups in first round of grants", "Jeff Bezos names first recipients of his $10 billion Earth Fund for combating climate change", "Twitter boss pledges $1bn for coronavirus relief", "Why Jeff Bezos's $100 million donation to food banks won't satisfy his critics", "Jeff Bezos Pledges $2B for Nature Conservation as World Leaders Address Deforestation, Emissions", Jeff Bezos's tuition-free preschool is expanding to new locations in Texas and Florida. In September 2016, Bezos received a $250,000 prize for winning the Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space Commercialization, which he donated to the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. [148][149][150] Since 2017, he has been portrayed by Kyle Mooney and Steve Carell on Saturday Night Live, usually as an undercutting, domineering figure. During that time, Amazon was just coming into its own by selling CDs online. [101] He has repeatedly called for increased inter-space energy and industrial manufacturing to decrease the negative costs associated with business-related pollution. [291] Bezos announced in September 2018 that he would commit approximately $2billion to a fund to deal with American homelessness and establish a network of non-profit preschools for low income communities. [79] This followed revelations by the non-profit group New Food Economy which found that one third of Amazon workers in Arizona, and one tenth of Amazon workers in Pennsylvania and Ohio, relied on food stamps. [45][246] In 1994, they moved across the country to Seattle, Washington, where Bezos founded Amazon. [195][196] A year later, Bezos entered the top ten when he increased his net worth to a total of $50.3billion. Bezos has been interested in becoming an NFL owner for at least four years. "Bezos" redirects here. [64] On August 4, 2016, Bezos sold another million of his shares for $756.7million. [157][158], Bezos used what he called a "regret-minimization framework" while he worked at D.E. Shaw and again during the early years of Amazon. Overtime raised $80 million in a Series C with investors including Bezos Expeditions, Drake and NBA stars including Devin Booker, Trae Young and Klay Thompson. He has also supported Democrats U.S. representative John Conyers, as well as Patrick Leahy and Republican Spencer Abraham, U.S. senators serving on committees dealing with Internet-related issues. [203] His wealth's rapid growth from 2016 to 2017 sparked a variety of assessments about how much money Bezos earned on a controlled, reduced time scale. [39], Bezos portrayed a Starfleet official in the 2016 movie Star Trek Beyond, and joined the cast and crew at a San Diego Comic-Con screening. Here's what you need to know about the sale", "The Washington Post closes sale to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos", "Jeff Bezos Makes His First Major Move at the Washington Post", "The Washington Post Is a Software Company Now", "How Jeff Bezos Reacts to 'Negative' Amazon Articles in the Washington Post", "The Story of Jeff Bezos' $250,000 Investment into Google in 1998", "New Yorker: Bezos' Initial Google Investment Was $250K in 1998 Because 'I Just Fell in Love with Larry and Sergey', "Google's co-founders and other Silicon Valley billionaires are trying to live forever", "We can learn a lot about Jeff Bezos' health strategy by looking at his investments", "Why Jeff Bezos Might Be the One to Crack the Health Care Challenge", "Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Team Up to Try to Disrupt Health Care", "Jeff Bezos Wants Ideas for Philanthropy, So He Asked Twitter", "Billionaire Bezos adds to eclectic interests", "Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos Flip the Switch on New Bezos Center for Innovation at MOHAI, Kicking Off Saturday Launch Celebration", "The Engines That Propelled Us into Space, Recovered From the Ocean Floor", "Rocket Engine Part Recovered by Amazon CEO Has Apollo 11 History", "Bezos Salvage Team Plucks Apollo Rocket Engines from Atlantic", "Apollo F-1 Engine Preview | The Museum of Flight", "As Apollo 11 moon landing anniversary nears, space fans get ready to celebrate", "Altos Labs Launches with $3B and a Focus on Reversing Disease, Aging", "The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon", "Amazon Uses '60 Minutes' To Unveil Automated Delivery Drones", "If Jeff Bezos really wanted to rule the world, he'd pose for corny photos like he used to", "Is Jeff Bezos a Horrible Boss and Is That Good?