What do Amazon.com, the Washington Post publishing house, and the aerospace company have in common? They are united by the owner, ideological mastermind, developer, billionaire Jeff Bezos.
Childhood
Native American, Jeffrey Preston Bezos was born on January 12, 1964 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. His parents, Jacqueline Guise and Ted Jorgensen, met at school. When Jacqueline became pregnant, she was 17 years old and Ted was 18. She went to Mexico with her parents' money to get married. The marriage did not last long: a year after the birth of a son, the couple filed for divorce. Jeff Bezos never saw his biological father, believing that this role rightfully belongs to Cuban Mike Bezos, the second husband of his mother. The man adopted his wife’s child, raised him as his own.
An inquiring mind appeared from early childhood - his favorite pastime was to disassemble everything that was badly in his father’s garage. At the age of 6, he independently developed an alarm system that worked when someone tried to upset the privacy of his room. Another original creation is a “solar microwave”, consisting of foil and an umbrella. With its help, under the bright rays of the sun, it was possible to make a couple of hot sandwiches.
A large role in the education of Jeff Bezos, whose biography has been the subject of our review, belongs to his grandfather, Lawrence Preston, who until his retirement served as regional director of the US Atomic Energy Commission. Summer vacation at his ranch gave the boy a full show of his talents. Together they repaired water pumps, combines, mills, and during Jeff's high school, they organized an educational camp for children. Grandfather and grandmother were members of the club traveling around America and Canada with their trailer houses, their grandson enthusiastically participated in these trips.
Education
Jeff Bezos School (American nationality) graduated with honors, was honored to deliver a farewell speech to graduates. School years passed under the auspices of a hobby for physics, he planned to continue to develop his knowledge at Princeton University, to become an engineer.
But fate decreed in a different way: the faculty was overcrowded, there were no places left, the decision urgently had to be changed. The choice fell on the computer software department. His desire to be the best in any area of his life worked here: in 1986 he graduated from the university with honors, after which he immediately received many job offers.
Career
To start a career, Jeff Bezos (you already know the nationality) decided at Fitel, a company that developed software for stock trading. After two years, he changed his job by signing a labor contract with Bankers Trust. But this work did not bring satisfaction, he felt that he could do much more.
New searches bring him to the investment management company DEShaw. Its founder, David Shaw, later giving an interview, will say that he was struck by the combination of the qualities of a technical specialist with the inexhaustible creativity of Jeff Bezos. The biography contains information that over 4 years of work, Jeff has risen to the senior vice president. On instructions from the management, he devoted much time to questions of the then little-known Internet, new areas of business, and software.
Jeff Bezos: family, personal life
When Jeff realized that he was ready for a serious relationship, he approached this issue thoroughly. He was engaged in dancing, went on blind dates. But the search for the second half did not take a long time. Jeff Bezos's future wife - Mackenzie Tuttle - was an analyst with DE Shaw. More precisely, the acquaintance occurred in 1993, when she appeared on the threshold of his office for an interview.
Jeff Bezos, talking with reporters, always notes not only the beauty, sexuality of his wife, but also resourcefulness, a sharp mind, because he needed a companion who could even get the third world countries out of prison.
Their offices were located in the neighborhood. Mackenzie took the first step, inviting him to dine once. Subsequently, she noted that she was subdued by the famous rolling laugh and immediately fell in love. Three months later, the personal life of Jeff Bezos moved to a new level. They got engaged, and six months later officially registered the marriage.
Do Jeff Bezos have children? Yes, spouses raise four children. Three of them are the sons of the couple, the daughter from China is the reception. Jeff Bezos's family is large and friendly. Their happiness can only be envied.
Change
As the biography tells, Jeff Bezos once read that the number of users of the World Wide Web in just a year increased by 2300%. He tried to find a niche of goods for trading via the Internet, which would be in demand, but in vain - reasoning led to a dead end. The idea was submitted by his wife, who dreamed of becoming a writer. By the way, she will nevertheless write two books in the future - “The Test of Luther Albright” and “Traps”, for one of which will be awarded the American Literary Prize.
Then Bezos was visited by the idea of selling books specifically online, because to buy them, you do not need a preview or fitting. In addition, he understood that companies engaged in their sale by mail would not be able to compete with him. Such companies do not even have the opportunity to create a voluminous advertising catalog for mailing, because in print it will be like a big encyclopedia. But the Internet can be filled with an unlimited amount of information.
The next day, Jeff Bezos, whose biography is of great interest today, was already present among the participants of the conference of the largest publishers, convincing them of the great prospects of sales through the online store.
A letter of resignation from DE Shaw hit the management table by Monday morning. His boss, David, as he could, tried to sow a grain of doubt in the head of a young businessman, urging him to spend more time on developing a step-by-step plan. Jeff had the courage not to listen to the voice of reason. So in the spring of 1994, he completely devoted himself to his work.
How was the story made?
Considerable financial resources were required to start the implementation of the plan. The first investor was his father, Mike Bezos, writing him a check for $ 300,000. Jeff honestly told all his shareholders that the probability of success is 30%. In the meantime, to begin work, it was required to go through the registration procedure of the company. The first step was to assign a legal address. It was decided to choose from the list of cities on the west coast of the United States, because it is here that IT companies actively developed.
Under US law, buyers will be required to pay tax if registered in the same state as the seller. Since the goal was to establish sales throughout the country, it was necessary to choose the state with the smallest population, so that only a small part of buyers paid the increased tax. The choice fell on Seattle, Washington, where one of Jeff Bezos's friends lived, who promised to invest a large sum in his business, to introduce the right people.
When the Bezos couple arrived with a lawyer with documents, it turned out that no one thought about the name in the bustle. Jeff announced that he would name the company "Kadabra", from the magic phrase magicians "Abracadabra." The lawyer was more down to earth and gave time to reflect. Two weeks later, Amazon appeared.
The first steps of the Internet giant
The first office of the future titan of online commerce was located in a rented house for spouses. Jeff and his staff had three computers at their disposal to develop the store’s technical platform. Immediately after its completion and testing of the system, the first orders began to arrive, the office moved to the basement, where the recording studio was previously located. His team has also developed a special discount system so that customers see the benefits of acquiring goods through their website.
The workflow was simple: on receiving an application, Amazon employees ordered books from Ingram, one of the largest wholesale suppliers of printed matter in the United States with a minimum order of 10 items. To circumvent this condition, Jeff used a trick: he included in the list 9 items that were not in stock. The result was a parcel with the necessary book and a letter with sincere apologies for the lack of others.
Bezos personally delivered orders to the post office. It was his team who owned the launch of the concepts of buying in 1 click, the customer feedback section, as well as the function of confirming the purchase by e-mail. The founder did not have a personal car; he drove the 1987 parent Chevrolet Blazer, because the company was forced to save.
The team consisted of people who would never have preferred money to realize their ideas. The main task was to improve the quality and uniqueness of the project, they sought to turn Amazon.com into a kind of social network where everyone could share an opinion about the book.
Over time, the concept of the store was finalized. Among the randomly selected users, a survey was conducted (about 1000 people participated) about what they would like to buy on the site. The list was filled with many items, ranging from household appliances to a rag for a car. This moment reversed Bezos’s thinking. Now on the store’s website you can buy furniture, films, building materials, children's goods, toys, medical devices and much more.
Development and competitors
According to the initial business plan, profit was planned in 4-5 years, but in fact it happened only by 2001. After 7 years, Amazon Jeff Bezos earned $ 5 million in net profit with an annual turnover of more than 1 billion. However, it is worth noting that by 1999 the stock price of the company soared 5 times.
After 2005, the company actively sought to reduce delivery costs and its time range. An offer was developed for customers: for a monthly fee of $ 79 per year, you can get the goods in two days. Manufacturers were offered the services of sorting centers for storing products, which would also reduce delivery time. Understanding that his competitors are not selling books by Barnes & Noble or major retailers such as Walmart, but Google and Apple, came quickly. For example, the released iPod and Apple's own music store significantly reduced Amazon's revenue.
Jeff Bezos decides to hit him himself, because of fears that someone might also collapse on the book side of the business. The company introduces the public Kindle - an electronic device for buying and reading books. At the same time, in an interview, Jeff notes that he does not wake up in the morning with thoughts about competitors, developing plans to eliminate a couple of such companies, moreover, this is the last thing he thinks about. Its goal is to create better conditions for buyers than others.
Company ideology
Amazon adheres to austerity policies, and the 2008 crisis partially confirmed the correctness of such thinking. So, workers do not use color printers, and parking at the corporate parking lot is still paid. Jeff made his first desktop on his own from a wooden door, bought at an inexpensive store around the corner. The office style of the company still does not accept the use of expensive furniture, and it is forbidden to decorate the office with luxurious items.
Bezos, an ardent supporter of the rule “The customer is always right,” sets his employees the task of studying the specific needs of their customers, forgetting the priority of the final result of the quarter. So, coordination with the designers of the company box for sending books took a couple of months, since Jeff wanted to be able to use it in everyday life, and not get rid of it, tearing it to pieces.
The requirements for employees are also high. They require maximum involvement in the process, full return and high efficiency. Corporate rule - work to the limit. Ineffective team members are fired annually. Any employee, even in a small position, is required to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Each new employee increases the requirements for subsequent ones.
For employment to pass a series of interviews. The number of interviewers includes a person whose task in the slang language is to “raise the bar”. His authority implies the ability to refuse the applicant without giving reasons, even if other members of the commission have approved his candidacy. This role is usually given to employees who have made more successful hiring decisions.
Other activities
The entrepreneur did not stop there. Since childhood, like many boys who dreamed about space exploration, Jeff in 2000 created a company that organizes space tourism, Blue Origin. It was led by former NASA engineer Rob Meyerson.
2015-2016 were marked by tests of an unmanned spacecraft, which successfully climbed 100 km. above the Earth and safely returned to its original position. In 2018, it is planned to carry out the first flights with the participation of people. The company employs over 600 people, but so far it exists only through the investments of Jeff Bezos and is completely dependent on the success of Amazon.
The projects do not end there: in 2013, the entrepreneur acquired The Washington Post for $ 250 million, which, incidentally, had once been reckless to publish a note on the financial difficulties of the creator of Amazon. In addition, he played the role of an alien in one of the scenes of the movie "Star Trek: Infinity."
The state of the billionaire
Forbes first remembered Forbes in 1997. His capital was $ 1.6 billion. Jeff was on the TOP 400 list of the richest Americans. In 1999, Time magazine was awarded the title "Person of the Year." By 2007, the state of Jeff Bezos - 4.4 billion dollars - was one of the ten largest. In 2017, he settled on the third line of the rating of the richest people on the planet, earning $ 72.8 billion. According to Land Report, he is one of the largest landowners in the country, owns several mansions:
- Medina, Washington. There are two houses, the area of which is more than 2 hectares. One of the estates spreads along the picturesque shore of the lake. The coastline is almost 100 meters long. This is where Jeff's family lives most of the time.
- Beverly Hills, California. The house of Jeff Bezos is located on one of the streets popular among Hollywood stars, it has many bedrooms, a pool, fountains, a garage for several cars, a tennis court.
- Van Horn, Texas. Childhood at a Texas farm inspired a desire to purchase a 30,000-acre ranch. Blue Origin is also located here.
- Manhattan Owns three luxury apartments in western New York.
- Washington. The Kalorama district is popular as the residence of the most senior officials. For example, the Obama family and Ivanka Trump and her husband own real estate on this street. The area of the house is 2500 square meters. The building was previously a textile museum.
Jeff Bezos: Charity
In 2012, Bezos and his wife announced their citizenship, donating $ 2.5 million to support gay marriage. In addition, $ 42 million and part of the Texas land were invested in the construction of The Long Now, an underground watch designed to last 10 thousand years. Based on open data and media reports, The New York Times estimated that the entrepreneur spent $ 100 million on charity.
The billionaire, famous for his tough personnel policy and fantastic ideas, excites minds around the world, because the inexhaustible energy of the founder of Amazon constantly pushes him towards new projects. It is known that he even thinks about building a base on the moon in order to create an electromagnetic gun there to launch cargo into orbit. One thing is clear: no matter what he takes, it is doomed to success.