Jeff Bezos Net Worth Tops $100 Billion

Jeff Bezos Net Worth Tops $100 Billion Edward Schinik, Yorkville Advisors December 12, 2017

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos’ net worth just exceeded $100 billion (that’s one followed by 11 zeroes) last Black Friday, November 24.

He’s the first person who has amassed such fortunes ever since Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates did it in 1999. Today, Bezos is the wealthiest man in the world, ahead of Gates and renowned investor Warren Buffet.

Early Life Born on January 12, 1964, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he is the son of Ted Jorgensen, his biological father and then teenager Jacklyn Gise.

Jeff’s mother remarried when he was four years old to Mike Bezos. At a

young age, the young Bezos was already into computers and even turned their garage into a laboratory.

During his teens, Jeff developed his interest in computers and founded his first business- a summer camp for fourth to sixth graders. Jeff entered Princeton University and in 1986 graduated summa cum laude with a degree in electrical engineering and computer science.

After graduation, he worked for several Wall Street companies including D.E. Shaw where he met his wife, Mackenzie Tuttle. He then became the firm’s youngest vice president in 1990.

Founding Amazon.com Despite his lucrative position at that time, Bezos quit his job. He jumped into the e-commerce world and opened an online bookstore, Amazon, on July 16, 1995. Despite having no press promotion, the company grew fast and was selling books across the US and 45 other foreign countries. In 1997, just two years after its establishment, Amazon went public.

Knowing that there are other opportunities on the Internet, Amazon.com not only sold books but other stuff as well. By partnering with major retailers, the site sold CDs, videos, toys, clothes, and electronics. The company was also one of the few who survived when the .com bubble bursts in 1997 to 2001.

Investments In 2007, Amazon released the Kindle, a handheld e-book reader that also allowed users to read, buy, store and download on the website’s book selections. On the same year, Bezos founded a human spaceflight startup called the Blue Origin. The company aims to open the doors to space tourism and make trips into outer space safer. Recently, he revealed that he was financing Blue Origin’s project by selling about $1 billion worth of Amazon stocks a year.

He was also one of the first shareholders in Google when he invested in 1998. Today, he has an estimated $3.1 billion worth of stocks in the search engine and tech giant.

In later years, Bezo’s continued to diversify his investments. He purchased the Washington Post on October 1, 2013, to the tune of $250 million. On the same year, he opened the Amazon Studios which launched critically acclaimed works such as Mozart in the Jungle and Transparent.

The Future Bezos is continually looking toward the future. Amazon is currently developing the technology of Amazon Prime Air, which will use remotecontrolled drones to do delivery services and other human tasks.

According to him, the drones can travel within 10-miles from the company’s distribution center and carry items weighing up to five pounds.

The wealthiest man in the world is also just starting to get into philanthropy and has donated about $68 million since 2000.

Edward Schinik has been with the Investment Manager since 2009 and has been with one Affiliated Investment Manager since 2005.