- published: 01 Jun 2016
- views: 140541
Jeffrey Preston "Jeff" Bezos (/ˈbeɪzoʊs/; born January 12, 1964) is an American technology entrepreneur and investor. He has played a role in the growth of e-commerce as the founder and CEO of Amazon.com, an online merchant of books and later of a wide variety of products and services, most recently video streaming. Amazon.com became the largest retailer on the World Wide Web and a model for Internet sales. In 2013, Bezos purchased The Washington Post newspaper. As of 1 January 2016, Bezos' personal wealth is estimated to be US$59.2 billion, due in part to a recent spike in Amazon's stock price, ranking him 4th on the Forbes list of billionaires.
Bezos was born Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen in Albuquerque, New Mexico to Jacklyn (née Gise) and Ted Jorgensen. His maternal ancestors were settlers who lived in Texas, and over the generations acquired a 25,000-acre (101 km2 or 39 miles2) ranch near Cotulla. As of March 2015, Bezos was among the largest land holders in Texas. Bezos' maternal grandfather was a regional director of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in Albuquerque. He retired early to the ranch, where Bezos spent many summers as a youth, working with him. At an early age, he displayed mechanical aptitude – as a toddler, he tried dismantling his crib.