Jeff Bezos is on track to become the world’s first “12-digit man”; that is, the first man to ever live who will be worth more than $100 billion. Oxfam is predicting that in another quarter-century, he will be the world’s first trillionaire.
Following is some insight from Bezos’ life that provides a glimpse into how he went from being a poor son of an underage teen mom to someone who owns more wealth than he could have ever imagined.
The Amazon founder was born into a reasonably wealthy family, but still got off to a hard start. His mother, who was 17 when she gave birth, divorced Jeff’s father nearly a year and a half later. She went on to marry Miguel Bezos, a Cuban immigrant who spoke only a single word of English at the time of the marriage, but who went on to adopt Jeff when he was 4 years old. Researchers report that other tech giants such as Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs were also adopted, noting that growing up as an adoptee does give some children a passion to succeed in life.
Surprisingly, Bezos recently stated that he did not start Amazon to make a ton of money. While he clearly saw the potential of the internet even in its early stages, the primary reason he started online retail project was because he wanted to be involved with the internet in some way. He saw how fast it was growing, had a passion to discover and use it for himself, and did not mind taking a risk and losing money in the process.
Jeff Bezos started Amazon.com in a garage in 1994. He began by selling books online; however, he was not content with his success in this arena. He had a feeling that he could be doing more, so he asked his customers what products they would like to see sold on his site. The results amazed him.
By doing this, he learned that there were so many things that people would be willing to buy online. Amazon promptly expanded its offerings and, as it did so, the number of customers drawn to the website grew exponentially.
At the same time, Amazon’s rise has not been without controversy. The company has been called out for cruel and unethical behavior towards employees a number of times. Amazon’s fulfillment centers routinely hire part-time employees who cannot form a union, bargain for higher wages or even speak out against the company’s practice for tagging workers and then reprimanding them for infractions such as not using the closest bathroom, wasting a couple of minutes of work time or even stopping too long to catch a breath after handling a heavy package.
Amazon has attempted to defend its behavior by noting that it does everything in the customer’s best interest, and its business practices enable the company to offer the lowest possible price. Even so, the fact remains that the company’s apparent uncaring treatment of workers has played a big role in its ability to generate huge profits year after year.
At the same time, Bezos is not content to rest on his laurels. While Amazon is generating huge profits and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, Bezos has continually looked for ways to expand his reach and influence. He has expanded Amazon’s offerings to include online movie streaming and original series, has shown an interest in 3D printing projects and is currently looking into the possibility of drone deliveries. The company’s purchase of Whole Foods earlier this year made it abundantly clear that Amazon is also very interested in getting into the grocery market, a market that is at present dominated by one of is main rivals, WalMart.
There is no doubt that Amazon has grown by leaps and bounds since it was first founded, and it appears that the company and Jeff Bezos’ wealth will continue to grow for the foreseeable future.
All that remains to be seen is how the world’s richest man decides to invest his money. While there is plenty of controversy surrounding Amazon’s business model and wealth acquisition, it is clear Bezos has a creative, ambitious mind, and his future offerings and programs could very well change the way people all over the world buy and sell goods.
Regards,
Ethan Warrick
Editor
Wealth Authority
