Many people know Jeff Bezos as the founder and CEO of Amazon but this leader has a great story of what life was like before he became the head honcho.
Jeff Bezos was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1964 and displayed an early love of how things worked. He would turn his parents’ garage into a lab, of sorts, and began putting together electrical devices. When he was a teenager, his family relocated to Miami. This is where Bezos’ love of computers began to flourish. It was actually during high school that Bezos began his first business called The Dream Institute. This business was an educational summer camp for students in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades.
This love led him to study computer science and electrical engineering at Princeton University where he would graduate summa cum laude in 1986. He quickly found employment at several firms on Wall Street like Fitel, Bankers Trust, and D.E. Shaw. He met his wife, Mackenzie, in 1990 and became D.E. Shaw’s youngest vice president.
After enjoying initial success in the world of finance, Bezos decided to dive into the world of e-commerce by quitting his job at D.E. Shaw to move to Seattle. He began targeting the potential of the internet market by opening an online bookstore. He set up the office for his new company in his garage and began developing software. After working through bugs and updates, Bezos opened Amazon.com in 1995.
Amazon’s initial success was huge and ever-expanding. The website sold books all across the United States and in 45 foreign countries within the first 30 days. After just two months, sales reached approximately $20,000 a week. This led to the company going public in 1997. Bezos’ business ventures saw him walk into new territory as he purchased The Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million. This was considered a shocking headline as there was no initial idea that Bezos was interested in purchasing The Washington Post.
Through fine business acumen and an undying love for needing to know how things work, Jeff Bezos has built himself a business empire that will endure for years to come. He was able to foresee the potential of so many new business ventures and has now surpassed many influential stalwarts as the richest man in the world.
There are few people in the world as influential and successful as Mr. Bezos, and so we must do what we can to learn from his success (and his failures). He has so much to teach, in terms of leadership and business management. To any young entrepreneurs and business hopefuls, make sure to take notes on one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world.