![\"Jeff](\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Jeff-Bezos.png\")
<\/p>\nAccording to Forbes, the net worth of Jeff Bezos is around $149.3 billion. He acquired most of his wealth through the successes of his e-commerce firm, Amazon in recent years. According to our findings, Jeff became a millionaire in 1998 after his e-commerce firm went public. Meanwhile, Amazon almost went bankrupt in 2002 as a result of his heavy commitment to expanding its services. But, the firm managed to survive and has, since, grown from strength to strength.<\/p>\n
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At the height of his wealth, Jeff Bezos had a net worth of about $177 billion. Meanwhile, the Amazon founder has been the subject of heavy criticism over his philanthropic ideology. He’s the only one among the top five (5) billionaires who refused to sign “the Giving Pledge.” The criticism gained momentum after his former partner and one of the early contributors to Amazon, MacKenzie Scott signed the Giving Pledge following her divorce from Jeff Bezos in 2019. She has reportedly donated more than $14 billion to charity since that period.<\/p>\n
Away from Amazon, Jeff Bezos is also the founder of Blue Origin; a spaceship firm that came into existence in 2000. With Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos focused on his childhood dream of building hotels, amusement parks, and colonies for human beings residing in orbit.<\/p>\n
| Year<\/th>\n | Net Worth<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n |
|---|---|
| 2019<\/td>\n | $131 billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 2020<\/td>\n | $113 billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 2021<\/td>\n | $177 billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 2022<\/td>\n | $171 billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 2023<\/td>\n | $149.3 billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\nEarly Life<\/h2>\nJeffrey Preston Jorgensen was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on January 12, 1964. He had a tough beginning owing to the marriage and financial crisis of his parents, Jacklyn and Ted Jorgensen. The couples were young when they gave birth to Jeff. His father, Ted is a Danish-American unicyclist from a Baptist family. He was 19 years old when Jeff was born. Jacklyn on the other hand was a 17-year-old high school student when she gave birth to Jeff. It was very difficult for Jacklyn to complete her high school education due to the responsibility of looking after young Jeff. Nevertheless, she managed to see herself through. After completing her high school education, Jacklyn attended a night school, attending classes with her baby.<\/p>\n Jeff was just seventeen months old when Jacklyn filed for a divorce in 1955. She left Ted and moved in with her parents. This was due to Ted’s financial struggles and his heavy consumption of alcohol. At age two, Jeff enrolled in a Montessori school in Albuquerque. Three years after Jacklyn left Ted, she married a Cuban immigrant, Miguel “Mike” Bezos. Thereafter, Mike adopted Jeff who was four years old then. Consequently, Mike legally changed little Jeff’s surname from Jorgensen to Bezos. Also, the new family relocated to avoid contact with Jorgensen. However, during this period, Mike was running a program at the University of New Mexico. The new family relocated to Houston, Texas, upon the completion of Mike’s program at this institution. In Houston, Mike worked with Exxon as an engineer. While growing up in Texas, Jeff Bezos often used his parents’ garage as a laboratory for his science projects.<\/p>\n After a while, the family relocated again to Miami, Florida. Due to that, Jeff Bezos was enrolled at the Miami Palmetto High School. While he was in high school, he worked briefly at McDonald’s as a short-order line cook, particularly during the breakfast shift. Also, he showed interest in tech and engineering at a very young age. At one point, he was in attendance for the Student Science Training Program at the University of Florida. He graduated from high school as a bright gem, winning numerous accolades for his brilliance. By the time he graduated, Jeff Bezos already won a National Merit Scholar award. Also, in 1982, he won a Silver Knight Award. For the first time, the young Jeff became the subject of media attention when he told the audience in his graduation speech that he dreamed of the day man would colonize the outer space.<\/p>\n In 1986, he received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Princeton University. As an outstanding student, Jeff Bezos graduated summa cum laude from the University with a 4.2 GPA. He heavily engaged in some notable extracurricular activities while at this University. He was a member of the Phi Beta and Kappa and the Quadrangle Club. More so, he served as the president of the Princeton chapter of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS). Similarly, Jeff Bezos was also elected into Tau Beta Pi.<\/p>\n Upon his graduation, Jeff Bezos received a lot of offers from top tech organizations like Intel, Bell Labs, and Andersen Consulting. However, he opted for Fitel, a fintech start-up. At this firm, Bezos was first saddled with the responsibility of building an international trade network. Later on, he became the head of development and director of customer service. He left Fitel and worked briefly with Bankers Trust as the product manager between 1988 to 1990. At the end of his two-year stint with Bankers Trust, Jeff Bezos joined D. E. Shaw & Co.<\/p>\n Amazon<\/h2>\nJeff Bezos conceived the idea of establishing Amazon in 1994. He gained inspiration after reading how usage of the Internet grew at an alarming rate of 2300% yearly. Due to that, he decided to establish his online bookstore. To focus on Amazon, Jeff Bezos alongside his then-wife, MacKenzie Scott resigned from their respective positions at D. E. Shaw & Co. The couple rented a garage in Bellevue, Washington in July I995 to serve as an office space for the firm. Likewise, he designed a business plan for Amazon during a cross-country drive from New York to Seattle.<\/p>\n Initially, Jeff Bezos named the organization Cadabra. However, he had a rethink later on and settled for Amazon. He resorted to the name Amazon for visibility purposes mainly. Then, web listings were alphabetized, and due to that, Jeff Bezos realized that Amazon would appear before Cadanra due to the letter A which is at the beginning of the alphabet. Also, Amazon as the World’s largest river was a source of inspiration for Jeff Bezos. He once described how he intended to make his company the largest bookshop the same way Amazon is the world’s largest river. The firm gained a significant financial boost at the start after Jeff Bezos’s parents invested $300,000 in it.<\/p>\n At the inception of the organization, Amazon only had Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott as its employees. Jeff Bezos managed the administrative part and day-to-day running of the organization. MacKenzie Scott, on the other hand, focused on the firm’s finances. She was in charge of the firm’s first freight contract negotiation.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos once considered establishing Amazon at an Indian reservation close to San Francisco to avoid paying taxes. In 1998, Jeff Bezos organized an Initial Public Offering (ICO). The success of the ICO made the Amazon founder a millionaire. Although, he warned early investors that there is a huge likelihood that Amazon would go bankrupt. However, on the flip slip, he was confident that the growth of the internet will aid the development of the new company.<\/p>\n In 1998, Bezos in an attempt to grow the company, diversified into the online sale of music and video. Also, the firm extended its services to other consumer goods. The efforts to expand were aided by the funds Amazon acquired through its equity offering. Part of the funds also assisted Jeff Bezos and Amazon to execute their plan of dominating the market by buying smaller competitors.<\/p>\n Around 2000, the firm’s shortage of cash balances compelled Jeff Bezos to take a $2 billion loan from banks. The dip in cash balance seems to be a pointer to an impending financial crisis due to excessive spending of Amazon towards its expansion efforts. The firm was on the brink of bankruptcy in 2002 after it plunged into a financial crisis. Due to that, Amazon laid off about 14% of its workforce and shut down some distribution centers.<\/p>\n However, things quickly changed for good the following year as the firm recorded a profit of $400 million. Amazon enjoyed a progressive run that saw its emergence as the largest online retailer in the world in 2013. In 2017, Amazon increased its workforce, adding not less than 130,000 new employees. The financial growth of Amazon contributed massively to the growing net worth of Jeff Bezos.<\/p>\n The same year, the billionaire became the wealthiest man on earth after overtaking Bill Gates. During that period, the net worth of Jeff Bezos soared to $90 billion. Likewise, he recorded a personal outstanding feat that saw his wealth surpass $100 billion around November 2017. Jeff Bezos officially became the wealthiest person in the world on March 16, 2018, after his net worth attained $112 billion according to Forbes.<\/p>\n |