Bezos Jef (Jeff Bezos)

Jeffrey Basos is an American entrepreneur. One of the richest people in the world. Founder of the online store Amazon.com. The company went through an IPO in 1997. It funds the Blue Origin project - the launch of private spacecraft.

Aktivs

Main article: The richest IT businessmen

For 2020, the centerpiece of Jeff Bezos' empire is a 16% stake Amazon.com. Beyond that, however, there are plenty of other investments. ��⠀

Amazon is making acquisitions and investments that relate to the company's core business and its future ambitions. This includes the acquisition of:

• Whole Foods (13.7 billion dollars in 2017),
• Zappos.com ($1.2 billion in 2009),
• PillPack ($1 billion in 2018),
• Twitch.tv ($970 million in 2014) and
• Kiva Systems ($780 million in 2012).

Bezos Expeditions manages Jeff Bezos' venture capital investments. The division has invested in:

• Twitter,
• Domo,
• Juno Therapeutics,
• Workday,
• General Fusion,
• Rethink Robotics,
• Business Insider,
• MakerBot и
• Stack Overflow. ⠀

��⠀

• Nash Holdings is a private company owned by Bezos that bought The Washington Post for $250 million.

Biography

1974

Bezos was telling students that he was eager for his grandmother to stop smoking. When he was 10, he calculated how much time in her life she loses with each puff.

And one day, while riding in a car with his grandparents, he waited for his grandmother to smoke and say: "In two minutes of smoke cloud, you took nine years of your life!" Little Bezos expected to be praised for such an observation that he would be told something like: "Jeff, how smart you are, you analyzed, counted and summed up."

But no one praised him. And my grandmother cried. Grandfather stopped the car and turned to him and said: "Jeff, one day you'll realise it's much harder to be kind than smart."

Mind is a gift and kindness is a choice.

1994: Bookstore Registration Cadabra.com

Financial analyst Jeff Bezos, who worked for the D.E. Shaw investment fund, drew attention to an interesting point: the number of Internet users in the previous year increased by 2300%. A little later, during a car trip, he came up with a business plan for an online book store. And, borrowing money from friends and family, he embarked on actions that led to stunning success: in a short time, his company became the largest retailer on the internet.

Amazon's history began in 1994, when Jeff Bezos registered a small online bookstore Cadabra.com. The summer of that year was well remembered by both him and his staff. On warm July evenings, they gathered in a cramped warehouse and handled the packing of books to send to customers. For 14 years, Bezos's store has become the largest online hypermarket on the planet.

In 1998, music discs and DVDs appeared in the assortment, and a year later the store began selling electronics, toys, household items and software.

The crisis of the Internet business of the early 2000s came unexpectedly. Thousands of entrepreneurs went bankrupt, and on the backs of the survivors burned the stigma - "unprofitable." It was in those years that Amazon.com was jokingly called "Amazon.lom" and "Amazon.bach." At this time, even such heavyweights as Wal-Mart and Target left Internet commerce. But Bezos decided to stand until the end. And I was not mistaken. He understood that the crisis not only dealt a tangible blow to business, but also cleared the space for development, eliminating many competitors.

615 million people visited the Amazon.com website in 2008. For the year, they bought all kinds of goods for almost $15 billion. At the same time, the company's net profit amounted to 476 million.

In 2008, Amazon was ranked 171st in Fortune magazine's $14.8 billion revenue ranking, advancing 66 positions from 2007. The profitability of the company's shares in 2007 amounted to 134.8%. Amazon even overtook Apple, which at the time led the stock in average profitability for a decade. And Bezos himself has become fabulously rich. Some experts at this time estimate his fortune at $8.2 billion. But unlike many internet investors, he is in no hurry to sell his business and rest on his laurels.

2015

Fortune of $47.8 billion

In the ranking of the richest businessmen in the IT industry, which was published by Forbes magazine in early August 2015, Jeff Bezos is in third place with a fortune of $47.8 billion.

Fortune of $47 billion

At the end of September 2015, Forbes magazine published the next edition of its ranking of the richest Americans. The top ten leaders included five businessmen related to the technology industry. In fourth position is Jeff Bezos, who, thanks to the growth of quotations of the company he headed, was able to significantly increase his fortune (to $47 billion) and move immediately 11 steps up.

2016

Fortune - $66 billion

In August 2016, Forbes magazine presented a rating of the richest businessmen in the field of information technology (IT). Jeff Bezos with a fortune of $66 billion is in second place.

Consulting for the Pentagon

In 2016, head Jeff Bezos joined the Defense Innovation Advisory Board at the US Department of Defense. Together with colleagues, including Eric Schmidt, he studies the possibilities and prospects for the use of technologies from the private sector^[1] in the defense industry^[2].

In addition to Bezos, astrophysicist and TV presenter Neil deGrasse Tyson and Jennifer Pahlka, who founded Code for America to combat digital inequality between the private and public sectors, became the new member of the council.

The Advisory Board was established in March 2016. It consists of 15 people, representatives of private technology companies, universities and schools. The task of the council is to transfer technologies and technological practices from the private sector to the public sector, namely to the defense sector.

Fortune - $70.7 billion

In October 2016, Forbes magazine published an updated ranking of the 400 richest people in the United States. Jeff Bezos rose to the second line after Gates, who, thanks to the growth of his company's quotes, increased his fortune by $20 billion over the year (to $70.7 billion).

2017

The richest man on the planet

On July 27, 2017, MicrosoftBill Gates co-founder ceased to be the richest man on the planet. He was ahead of the founder and head of the Internet corporation Amazon Jeff Bezos.

According to Bloomberg, citing its own billionaires index (Bloomberg Billionaires Index), which is updated daily based on the assessment of assets owned by entrepreneurs, on July 27, 2017, Bezos's fortune exceeded $90 billion, while Gates' indicator falls slightly short of this mark. In the agency's ranking of the richest businessmen, Gates lost his leadership for the first time since 2013.

In early 2017, Jeff Bezos was fourth in wealth. By July 27, the businessman's fortune increased by $24.5 billion, which allowed him to break into first place.

According to Forbes, Bill Gates lost the title of the richest man on Earth for the first time in 7 years. At the same time, Jeff Bezos became in 30 years only the sixth person leading in terms of fortune on a global scale. Forbes estimates Bezos and Gates' fortunes at $90.6 billion and $90.1 billion, respectively, by July 27, 2017.

Bezos' main asset is a stake in online retailer Amazon (he owns a 17% stake). The company's capitalization has been steadily increasing in recent months - since the beginning of 2017, it has grown by $146 billion and exceeded $500 billion (in the United States, three more companies with this value - Alphabet, Apple and Microsoft) on July 26, 2017.

The rise in Amazon quotes is due to the company's success in the e-commerce and cloud services markets. In addition, as noted by Bloomberg, analysts and investors are watching how the business related to Amazon Prime, a program for regular buyers with an annual membership fee of $99, is developing. Subscribers to this service receive discounts on music and video downloads, but they tend to spend more than non-Amazon Prime users.^[3]

[[Image:как росло состояние Джеффа Безоса.png|840px|Как росло состояние Джеффа Безоса по сравнению с другими миллиардерами с момента выхода Amazon на IPO^[4]

A fortune of $100 billion

At the end of November 2017, Jeff Bezos's fortune reached $100.3 billion after Amazon shares grew by more than 2% due to Black Friday sales.

According to analysts at Adobe Analytics, in just a year - since 2016 - the volume of online purchases on Black Friday has grown by 18.4%, and investors are betting that the company will receive a huge share of profits from online sales over the holiday period.

The $100 billion milestone was submitted to one person for the first time since 1999, when the fortune of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates reached the same mark. Bill Gates, whose fortune by the end of November 2017 is $86.8 billion (data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index), would have a figure of $150 billion if he had not donated more than 700 million shares of Microsoft shares and $2.9 billion in cash and other assets to charity since 1996, Bloomberg news agency notes.

Unlike Gates, who was the richest man in the world until Bezos surpassed his fortune in October 2017, or American investor Warren Buffett, the third richest man on the planet with $78.9 billion, the founder of Amazon gave a relatively small part of his fortune to charity. The billionaire announced in April 2017 that he sells $1 billion in Amazon shares each year to finance his Blue Origin space business.

In 2017 (until mid-November), Bezos's fortune grew by $32.6 billion - a record increase in the fortune of all billionaires in the daily ranking of the 500 richest people in the world, Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In just one week - from November 20 to 26, 2017 - Amazon's profits increased by 5%.^[5]

Growth in wealth by $34.2 billion

At the end of December 2017, it became known about an increase in the fortune of the 500 richest people in the world by $1 trillion. The wealth of the richest man in the world - the founder  of online retailer Amazon Jeff Bezos - increased by $34.2 billion in 2017.

2018

The richest man in history

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, on January 8, 2018, the net worth of  Amazon founder Jeff Bezos reached $105.1 billion, which was facilitated by a significant jump in stock prices of the company, whose market value grew by almost 57% in 12 previous months.   In the 5 weeks since American Thanksgiving (November 23, 2017), Amazon.com accounted for 89% of all online sales among major holiday retailers in the United States, and in  the first week of 2018, the company's shares rose 6.6%.

Such a jump finally threw Bezos' fortune above the historical maximum reached by Microsoft founder Bill Gates in 1999. Bezos surpassed Gates' fortune in October 2017 with a net worth of $93.8 billion, and a month later his fortune for the first time exceeded the $100 billion mark during the season of major sales and Black Friday.

Bloomberg notes that 62-year-old Bill Gates would own a fortune of $150 billion if he retained the assets that he gave to charity to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest private charitable foundation on the planet. According to an analysis of Gates' publicly disclosed donations, from 1996 to 2017, he distributed almost 700 million Microsoft shares   and $2.9 billion in cash and other assets. At the beginning of 2018, Gates's fortune is $93.3 billion.

Compared to Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos's charitable donations are much more modest. Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie  , donated $15 million to their alma mater, Princeton University, in 2011, and tens of millions of dollars were given to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Siettle^[6]

Walking with a robot dog

In March 2018, Jeff Bezos posted a photo on his Twitter blog showing the Amazon founder walking with a SpotMini robot dog from Boston Dynamics.

Taking my new dog for a walk at the 2018 MARS conference, "Bezos wrote.

 About 7.2 thousand microblog users have already shared a picture with the entrepreneur's new pet (by 11:00 Moscow time on March 23, 2018).

Thus, Jeff Bezos decided to show the latest achievements in the development of SpotMini - a four-legged robot weighing 25 kg and 91 cm high with a manipulator claw instead of a head can raise objects and open doors.

Bezos' subscribers jokingly stated that the head of Amazon should be afraid of his new pet, as the dog strongly resembles a mechanical monster from the series "Black Mirror": in the episode of the fourth season of Metalhead, the heroine tried to escape from the robot dog throughout the series.

Boston Dynamic calls the SpotMini "a nimble robot capable of handling objects, climbing steps, moving around in offices, inside houses and on the street."

Jeff Bezos has long shown considerable interest in robotics. At the 2018 MARS conference, he introduced other devices to guests. In particular, it was a delivery robot that follows its boss everywhere, as well as a drone flying overhead.

At MARS 2017, Bezos tested a 4.3-meter-high robotic spacesuit manufactured by the South Korean company Hankook Mirae. The entrepreneur then compared himself to the heroine of the film "Alien" (Alien).

MARS is an annual technology of the future conference hosted annually by Amazon. The event, which is only invited to enter, presents new developments in space exploration, machine learning, automation and robotics.^[7]

Earnings of $1.68 million as head of Amazon

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos earned about $1.68 million in 2017. This amount included a salary of $81,840 and $1.6 million in the form of payments for ensuring the safety of the manager. Bloomberg notes that Bezos' compensation package has not changed since 2012. Read more here.

Mansion for $35 million photos

On April 22, 2018, The Washingtonian published floor plans for a 2,500 quadrant meter house purchased by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in 2016 in Washington.

Jeff Bezos paid $23 million in cash for the former Textile Museum in the prestigious Kalorama area. The mansion, consisting of two houses in the 1900s, was already one of the largest houses in Washington, but in 2017 Bezos set about reconstructing and expanding the house, paying builders $12 million - thus the total cost of the mansion reaches $35 million.

The Washingtonian submitted a formal application to the local planning and construction office to publish the blueprints: a ballroom, five staircases, two elevators, a winoteca and a whiskey basement - just some of the amenities of the redeveloping mansion.

The mansion actually consists of two buildings: one of them is called the "Pope House," since its architect was John Russell Pope, the author of the memorial to President Thomas Jefferson, the second is called the "Forest House." The mansion is located in close proximity to the house of the family of the former president USA Barack Obama worth $5.3 million, as well as near the dwellings of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.

Bezos and his wife, McKenzie, plan to use one of the buildings - the four-story "Pope House" - for living rooms with all the amenities needed for the billionaire inventor, and the second, the "Forest House," to receive guests and various entertainments, The Washingtonian reported. The two buildings are connected by a covered walkway.

The mansion renovation project by architecture firm Barnes Vanze includes 191 new doors (many made of mahogany or decorated with bronze), 25 bathrooms, 11 bedrooms, five living rooms/salons, five staircases, three kitchens, two libraries/study rooms, two workout rooms, two elevators, a solarium - and a huge ballroom.

According to the drawings, the lower floor of the "Pope House" will be mainly reserved for the main living quarters. In addition, the house will have a spacious whiskey basement with many special cabinets, as well as a wine library. There is also a spacious lounge with a cocktail bar, a large kitchen and an elevator. On the upper floors there will be several large dressing rooms and several bedrooms, one of which has its own fireplace. Overall, Pope's "home" will house ten bathrooms, along with a gym, television room and family nook kitchen (in addition to a large downstairs kitchen).

The large "forest house" located next door will serve as Bezos' headquarters in Washington. In addition to guest rooms, there will be a grill area, a furniture storage room, dressing rooms for staff, a party kitchen and several cocktail bars. A huge marble staircase greets guests in the main lobby before they can move into the ballroom, which covers nearly 1,500 square feet. The ballroom will house a bar, Ionic columns with floor-to-ceiling carved decorations, a marble fireplace and balconies with curly wrought iron bars. On the second floor there will be a 36-foot gallery, as well as a solarium ("garden room"), two terraces and a living room. Upstairs there will be four guest bedrooms and bathrooms, as well as staff accommodation. Behind the houses is a vast garden with two fountains, a garden pavilion and a gazebo.

This is the fifth house acquired by Jeff Bezos. The Amazon executive also owns properties in Washington state, Texas, California and Manhattan.^[8]

Clothing style and budget counterparts

In 2017, Jeff Bezos changed style to include stricter clothing in his wardrobe. The favorite brands of the chapter of Amazon are not named, but it is known that you can buy in return: Zara leather jacket ($89.90), BRAVO oxford shoes ($35) and classic dark Gap jeans ($36).

Bezos with a fortune of $150 billion has become the richest man in modern history

On July 16, 2018, Jeff Bezos's fortune exceeded $150 billion, as a result of which the founder and head of Amazon became the richest man in modern history.

Such data are provided in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which is updated daily based on the assessment of assets owned by entrepreneurs.

Even taking into account the dollar and inflation, Bezos's wealth turned out to be higher than the record set in 1999 by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates - $149 billion. As of July 7, 2018, Jeff Bezos's fortune was estimated at $142 billion.

Jeff Bezos ranks first in another ranking of the richest people on the planet - Forbes The World's Billionaires. According to Forbes, the businessman owns $149.7 billion by July 16.

For comparison, in 2017, the World Bank estimated Bulgaria's GDP at purchasing power parity at $143.85 billion. Bezos's fortune is greater than the GDP of Georgia, Mongolia, Estonia and Armenia combined.

According to Bloomberg, Bezos has become "richer than anyone else on earth, at least since 1982, when Forbes first published its ranking of the richest people."

Bezos owns a 16% stake in Amazon. About 95% of his fortune depends on the value of the shares of this company, the market capitalization of which on July 16, 2018 amounted to about $887 billion.

Bezos' fortune challenges the planet's richest family, the Walton dynasty, which owns the world's largest supermarket chain Walmart. The heirs of the founder of the business empire, Sam Walton, ranked first in the ranking of the 25 richest families on the planet with a combined fortune of $151.5 billion.

Gates' fortune could also be above $150 billion if he spent less on charity. Since 1996, he has donated almost 700 million shares of Microsoft shares and $2.9 billion in cash.^[9]

Bezos' parents who bought Amazon shares in 1995 have a fortune of $30 billion

At the end of July 2018, it became known that 23 years ago the parents of Jeff Bezos invested in Amazon shares and now their fortune is estimated at $30 billion.

In 1995, Jeff Bezos sought investment from his mother and stepfather. Jackie and Mike Bezos purchased about $245,000 worth of Amazon securities, although Jeff warned parents that they could easily lose this money - the likelihood of this approaching 70%. Their condition has not been disclosed since 1999. It is only known that from 2001 to 2016 they transferred 595,000 shares to the Bezos Family Foundation, a foundation that specializes in supporting educational initiatives.

Now, according to analysts, Jackie and Mike Bezos are among the richest people on the planet, and their fortune is growing as Amazon shares rise in price, and the market capitalization of the Internet giant approaches $1 trillion. At the same time, Jeff Bezos himself is the richest man with a fortune of more than $150 billion, and his company costs about $877 billion. Bezos' parents may be richer than Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, investor Carl Icahn, DellMichael Dell, Tesla Motors creator Elon Musk and Steve Jobs' wife, according to Bloomberg analysts' calculations.

According to the most conservative estimates, even if the Bezoses sold all their shares at a minimum price between the end of 1999 and 2018, they would have received $100 million. If the Bezoses had stuck to the course of the deals they made before 1999, they would have about $9.9 billion in Amazon shares. If the Bezos did not sell shares after 1999, which is the opinion of many analysts, then the share of Jeff Bezos's parents in Amazon can be estimated at $29.6 billion. The return on investment in this case would be 12 million percent, and the 1995 deal could be considered the most successful in history. However, the Bezoses, Amazon and the Bezos Family Foundation declined to comment on analysts' guesses.

Jeff Bezos' other relatives, Mark Bezos and Christina Poor, also own shares in Amazon.^[10]

Transfer of $2 billion to charity

On September 13, 2018, Jeff Bezos announced the creation of a charitable foundation. The initiative, called the Bezos Day One Fund, is designed to fund nonprofits helping the homeless, as well as to establish preparatory preschools for children from low-income families. Bezos explained that he was ready to start investing about $2 billion in a new fund. Read more here.

Investment in nuclear fusion

On October 30, 2018, it became known that Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson rushed into the sphere of nuclear fusion, which the late Stephen Hawking called the most promising technology of mankind. The richest people on the planet are willing to invest in startups developing a commercial fusion reactor based on fusion rather than atom splitting. Read more here.

Investment in lithium-ion battery alternative developer Mata

In December 2018, it became known that the innovative project Malta, which was previously part of the secret laboratory X of Google Corporation, was allocated to an independent company. The startup was supported by billionaire investors, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Malta will use the funds to further develop its energy storage system, which in the future can become an alternative to lithium-ion energy storage facilities. Read more here.

How Bezos earns and spends money

At the end of December 2018, Jeff Bezos is the richest man in modern history - his fortune is estimated at $156 billion. Bezos's wealth is so great that, according to Business Insider's calculations, spending $88,000 for the head of Amazon is still $1 for the average American. And although Jeff Bezos intends to spend his entire fortune for the benefit of humanity, this may not happen as the rest of us think, the newspaper notes.

The main source of Bezos's considerable fortune is Amazon. He founded the company in 1994 and is the CEO and largest shareholder with a stake of about 16% (as of December 2018). As Amazon's quotations rise, so does the fortunes of its leader. Since Amazon's initial offering in 1997, its value has jumped 97,000% by the end of 2018.

Amazon has grown into a brand that participates in virtually every aspect of life. The company grew thanks to profitable acquisitions and investments. Landmark deals were purchases of the online shoe store Zappos for $1.2 billion and the retailer Whole Foods for $13.7 billion.

Jeff Bezos is one of the largest landowners in the United States. He owns a house in Medina, Washington, worth $25 million, the territory of which covers 5.3 acres. Bezos's estate is located next door to the house of the second richest man in the world - Bill Gates. Bezos also owns a $23 million townhouse in Washington, D.C., next door to the homes of Obama and Ivanka Trump.

In addition, he has a $25 million mansion in Beverly Hills and three apartments in New York for a total of $17 million. Finally, the largest property purchase for Bezos was a 30,000-acre ranch in Van Horn, Texas, which serves as the base for his space exploration company, Blue Origin.

In addition to real estate, Bezos owns a Gulfstream plane worth $65 million. Unlike his billionaire peers, Bezos is not often involved in public philanthropy, but he has made large donations for Mary's Place - an organization that supports Seattle's homeless population - as well as TheDream.US, which supports people protected by the DREAM Act, which provides relief in migration policy by legalizing immigrants who enter the U.S. as minors and have spent at least two years in college or serving in the military.

Bezos, however, publicly funds and invests in various projects. In 2013, Bezos funded and led an expedition to lift one of the Apollo 12 mission's rocket engines from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. In early 2018, Bezos allocated $42 million for the construction of mechanical watches designed for 10 thousand years of work through The Long Now Foundation. The clock should become a symbol of long-term planning and a reminder of the future of mankind.

Bezos also made a number of investments and purchases through his own venture capital firm, Bezos Expeditions. He personally invested in Google, Uber, Airbnb and many other technology companies and acquired The Washington Post for $250 million. But his most ambitious venture was space exploration company Blue Origin.

Bezos spends $1 billion a year to fund this large-scale human spacewalk and colonization project for the solar system. And he plans to use all his wealth to fund space exploration projects. Bezos believes that this is his most important contribution to the future of mankind. He hopes Blue Origin will increase production efficiency and help people avoid civilizational stagnation.^[11]

2019

The story of a divorce worth $39 billion

On January 9, 2019, Jeff Bezos, 54, announced his divorce from his wife Mackenzie, 48, with whom he had lived for 25 years. The richest man on the planet did not name the reasons for this decision.

We want people to be aware of how our lives flow. As our family and close friends already know, after a long period of reassessment of love and temporary separation, we decided to divorce and continue our life together, remaining friends. We had a wonderful life as a married couple, and ahead of us we have a wonderful future, as parents, friends, partners in various projects... The names may vary, but we will remain family and true friends, "Jeff and Mackenzie Bezos said in a joint statement, which was published on the chapter's official social media page Amazon. Twitter

In 2018, the Bezos couple created a joint charitable foundation called the Day One Fund. He is engaged in the creation of modern kindergartens for children from socially unprotected families. Despite the breakup, Jeff and Mackenzie Bezos will continue to work together on this project.

As CNBC notes, Mackenzie Bezos, also known for writing novels, is often mentioned in the history of Amazon - she supported Jeff when he decided to leave Wall Street and focus on e-commerce.

They met at a job at a hedge fund in New York. McKenzie took the first step by inviting Jeff to lunch. Three months after they met, they announced their engagement and soon got married.

After the announcement of the divorce of the founder and head of Amazon, the company's shares fell slightly in price, but then won back this decline.

By January 9, 2019, Jeff Bezos remains the richest man on Earth with a fortune of almost $140 billion. In 2017-2018, the businessman became richer by more than $60 billion.^[12]

In July 2019, a judge in Washington's King County signed an act of divorce. In the divorce, Mackenzie refused to claim shares in The Washington Post and Bezos' space company Blue Origin. You can't call the publishing business easy, and Blue Origin is unprofitable - Bezos Jeff invests about $1 billion in it annually. Of Amazon's 16% stake held by Bezos, McKenzie will take a quarter. At the same time, the ex-husband has the right to vote with her package.

As a result, Jeff Bezos left a 12% stake in an online retailer worth almost $115 billion. He retained the title of the world's first rich man, not letting himself overtake Bill Gates with his $107 billion (however, if the founder of Microsoft had not spent tens of billions on charity, he would have been the undisputed leader).

4% of Amazon shares that McKenzie transferred are valued at $39 billion. She took 22nd place in the list of the richest people in the world according to Bloomberg and became the third among the richest women. It is second only to the heiress of the L'Oréal empire, Francoise Bettencourt-Myers (almost $50 billion) and the only daughter of Walmart supermarket founder Alice Walton (about $44 billion). The closest rival, the granddaughter of Mars founder Jacqueline Mars, owns $24 billion, and the richest woman in China, Yang Huiyan, owns $22 billion.

Mackenzie will take only 25% of Jeff Bezos's fortune, but deserves half - after all, there would be no Amazon without it - Business Insider came out with about this headline. As Warren Buffett and Sheryl Sandberg said, the most important decision you can make is to choose who to marry. Buffett once admitted that without his first wife, Susie, who died in 2004, he would not have made a fortune^[13].

Intimate correspondence with mistress got into public access

On February 1, 2019, Jeff Bezos initiated an investigation into the leak of his intimate correspondence, which was published in the National Enquirer. Amazon The people hired by the founder questioned the brother of the woman he is dating, according to the Daily Beast newspaper.

Just before the Enquirer's publication, Bezos and his wife, Mackenzie, announced they were going to end the 25-year marriage. The reason for the divorce is considered the new lover of Bezos, a former TV presenter from Los Angeles, Lauren Sanchez. Bezos's inner circle, including security guard Gavin de Becker, confirmed that he had already interrogated the brother of his beloved Michael Sanchez.

This news is distinguished from ordinary stories about the personal life of stars by a political background. President Donald Trump regularly attacks Bezos on his Twitter blog and calls the Washington Post, which Bezos owns, the Amazon Washington Post, hinting at the unlimited power of the head of the corporation. In 2018, the Enquirer admitted that it used its reputation and influence to influence the 2016 election, and after the publication of Bezos' intimate correspondence, the question arose whether the editorial board did not want to whitewash itself in Trump's eyes after the shaft of critical articles about him.

Michael Sanchez publicly supports Trump and, according to The Beast, is a "personal and business partner" of Roger Stone, Carter Paige and Scotty Neil Hughes, Trump's partners. In a letter to the Los Angeles Times, Sanchez described himself as "gay, Latino, homeowner in West Hollywood and a staunch Trump supporter." It is not known who exactly sent Bezos's intimate correspondence to the Enquirer, but Michael Sanchez, who actively supports Trump on social networks, had both motivation and access to confidential information on his sister's smartphone.^[14]

Fortune of $125 billion

The richest man on Earth is Jeff Bezos with a fortune of $125 billion (Bloomberg Billionaires Index). Forbes magazine estimated Bezos' fortune at 164.8 billion and included the fortune of family members - the founder of Amazon officially divorced in June and gave his ex-wife 4% of the company a market value of $38 billion.

2020

War with Trump

In mid-February 2020, it became known that Jeff Bezos wants to interrogate USA Donald Trump Pentagon the president and find out if he personally intervened in the case of a $10 billion cloud tender. Amazon Microsoft The military contract for this amount was not received, but, which now creates a cloud infrastructure for the Pentagon called JEDI. Amazon believes Trump may have intervened in government operations for personal gain. More. here

Beverly Hills mansion purchase for record $165m

February 12, 2020 it became known about the purchase by Jeff Bezos of a mansion in Beverly Hills (California, USA) for $165 million. It's a record sale and purchase deal for properties in Los Angeles and its suburbs.

According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Bezos acquired the estate from media mogul David Geffen without the participation of real estate agents. The area of ​ ​ the land plot on which the house is located is about 3.6 hectares. There are also terraces, gardens, several guest houses, a tennis court and a golf course.

I would say that this is one of the most beautiful houses in the world, not to mention Los Angeles, "local realtor Kurt Rappoport told WSJ.

According to the publication, the mansion was designed in the 1930s for Warner Brothers President Jack Warner. David Geffen bought the facility in 1990 for $47.5 million. Then this purchase also became the largest residential real estate transaction in the Los Angeles area.

Along with the estate, Bezos's Bezos Expeditions bought another Los Angeles site, previously owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, for $90 million. The company called this purchase an investment.

In addition, earlier in 2020, the head of Amazon Bezos acquired three apartments in New York for $80 million, their total area exceeds 1,500 square meters. m.

By February 13, 2020, Jeff Bezos is the richest man on the planet: the magazine Forbes estimates his fortune at $131.3 billion. At the same time, the indicator could have been higher if not for the sale of Amazon shares.

Between January 31 and February 6, 2020, Bezos sold about 2 million Amazon securities, which at that time cost a total of $4.1 billion. Such a large share for a 7-day period was not sold by any other head of the company from the Bloomberg billionaires index, which has been running since 2012.^[15]

Net worth $182 billion

In July 2029, the fortune of the richest man in the world - the head of Amazon - Jeff Bezos again updated the historical record, reaching $182.6 billion.

This situation is observed against the background of the continuing growth in the value of Amazon shares - at the end of Thursday they rose by 2.7%, to a record 3081.11 dollar apiece, and the company's capitalization rose to $1.54 trillion.

Bezos owns an 11.1% stake in Amazon and has topped Forbes' richest people since 2017.

In May 2020, the small business consulting company Comparisun published its forecast, according to which Bezos has every chance of becoming the first, whose fortune will exceed one trillion dollars, already in 2026.

Sale of 1 million shares of Amazon for $3 billion

In early November 2020, it became known that Jeff Bezos sold about 1 million shares worth Amazon more than $3 billion. This is evidenced by the materials. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

According to CNBC, which refers to these documents, since the beginning of 2020, the entrepreneur has sold Amazon securities totaling more than $10.2 billion, which is significantly more than in 2019 ($2.8 billion).

In November, Jeff Bezos disposed of a 1.8 percent stake in Amazon, leaving the businessman with a 10.6 percent stake.

Shortly after the sale of some of the securities, the price of Amazon shares rose sharply, to $3,307 apiece. Amazon has become one of those companies that the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has helped increase business. Shares of the company by November 4 soared in price by 70% compared to the beginning of 2020. If in January the retailer's securities cost about $1.9 thousand, then they completed trading on November 4, 2020 at the level of $3.2 thousand. At the peak of value in September, one Amazon share traded at $3.5 thousand, according to data from the Nasdaq exchange.

Excluding the sold, Bezos owns more than 53 million Amazon shares totaling almost $170 billion. Taking into account the income from the transaction and its other assets, the businessman's fortune as of November 5, 2020 is estimated by Forbes magazine at $190 billion.

In August, Bezos became the first entrepreneur in history to reach $200 billion. However, several collapses of stock markets that followed in the fall due to the second wave of coronavirus reduced its capital.

Bezos annually sells $1 billion in Amazon shares to fund his space startup Blue Origin. In addition, according to The Atlantic, Bezos will donate $100 million each to the Nature Conservation Fund, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the World Wildlife Fund.^[16]

Donation of $791 million to environmental conservation

On November 16, 2020, Jeff Bezos named 16 environmental organizations that will receive the first part of the funds from their Bezos Earth Fund, the total amount of conservation grants of which is $10 billion. Together, they will receive $791 million, but the founder of Amazon did not specify how much each organization will receive. Read more here.

2021

Jeff Bezos lost the lead in material condition to Elon Musk

In early January 2021, Elon Musk became the richest man on Earth. His fortune by January 11 is estimated at $209 billion (given by Bloomberg Billionaires Index) against $186 billion from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who was formerly the richest planet. The head of Tesla and SpaceX took first place on January 7, and a few days later he strengthened his leadership. According to Forbes, the fortune of Musk and Bezos by January 11, 2021 is $189.7 billion and $185.7 billion, respectively. Read more here.

Resignation from the post of CEO of Amazon

In February 2021, it became known that Jeff Bezos would resign as CEO of Amazon, Andy Jassy would take over in the third quarter.

Investing in Turntide Technologies Cloud-Controlled Engine Developers

In mid-March 2021 American , a cloud-controlled engine developer Turntide Technologies raised $80 million in a funding round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a co-founder. Microsoft Bill Gates Other investors Amazon include Climate Pledge Fund (established by its founder), Amazon Jeff Bezos Footprint Coalition Ventures by actor Robert Downey Jr., Keyframe Capital, Fifth Wall and Captain Planet LP. Turntide's total funding, including the latest round, was $180 million. More. here

Fortune - $177 billion

In April 2021, Forbes magazine presented an updated annual ranking of the richest people on the planet. The first place in it was retained by the head of Amazon Jeff Bezos, whose fortune grew by $64 billion over the year, to $177 billion. Read more here.

Amazon stock sale worth $2.48 billion

In early May 2021, Jeff Bezos sold Amazon shares worth $2.48 billion. This is reported in the documents that the company provided to the US Securities Commission and Exchange (SEC).

It says that the founder of Amazon sold about 739 thousand securities of the company at a price of $3274 to $3485 apiece. After the deals, Bezos owns about 52.5 million shares of Amazon, which is a 10.4% stake in the company. During 2021, he plans to sell up to 2 million securities.

For what purposes the businessman intends to spend the proceeds is not specified. Earlier it was reported that Jeff Bezos spends about $1 billion annually on his aerospace project Blue Origin. Also, the entrepreneur from time to time participates in charity events.

In addition, Bezos also allocates capital for the Day One Foundation, an organization he launched to provide education in low-income communities and combat homelessness.

In 2020, Bezos sold shares of the company for more than $9 billion. Amazon shares are among the most expensive stocks on the American stock market. Against the background of the company's quarterly reporting, large analysts began to revise forecasts for the value of securities. The most optimistic forecast - from the financial group Susquehanna - suggests that quotes could reach $5.5 thousand on the horizon of the year. The most modest expectations are at DZ Bank ($4.2 thousand).

By the beginning of May 2021, Jeff Bezos's fortune is estimated at $192.6 billion (data Forbes). The businessman still ranks first in the list of the richest people in the lira, ahead of Bernard Arnault and. Elona Musk

According to Bloomberg, during Amazon's 15 years as a public company (it went public in 1997), Jeff Bezos sold about a fifth of the online retailer's shares.^[17]

Investing in anti-aging technology developer Altos Labs

In early September 2021, it became known that Yuri Milner had invested in an anti-aging technology developer called Altos Labs. Most likely, the investment deal was concluded through the DST Global fund owned by the Russian entrepreneur. Read more here.

2022

Former housekeeper Vedaa Mercedes sues over unacceptable working conditions

On November 3, 2022, it became known that the former housekeeper of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, sued the billionaire in connection with unacceptable working conditions. Read more here.

Fortune - $112 billion; 5th in the Bloomberg ranking

Jeff Bezos took 5th place with a fortune of $112 billion. Read more here.

2023

Engagement to Emmy winner

On May 22, 2023, it became known that 59-year-old billionaire Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, became engaged to his beloved, 53-year-old Lauren Sánchez, a former Los Angeles TV presenter and Emmy winner.

According to the resource People, the engagement was revealed during the couple's vacation in the south of France. On May 20, 2023, Bezos and Sanchez attended the premiere of Killers of the Flower Moon, which took place as part of the 76th Cannes International Film Festival. The paparazzi were able to capture lovers with rings on their ring fingers.

It is noted that Bezos and Sanchez spend time together on the Koru sailing megayacht, which the founder of Amazon purchased for $500 million. Built at the Dutch shipyard Oceanco, the 127-metre, three-mast vessel was the largest sailing yacht in the world at the time of its launch. The ship received its name not by chance: Koru in Maori culture symbolizes the beginning of a new life. As noted by DailyMail, a sculpture of a woman made of polished wood in the style of a Roman goddess with developing hair flaunts on the nose of Koru. Outwardly, she is very similar to Lauren Sanchez.

He [Jeff Bezos] is so happy, he inspires me every day, he makes me better every day. He's the most loving person I know, "Sanchez says.

Bezos and Sanchez first revealed their relationship in 2019. Since then, they have kept the details of their life together largely secret, except for periodically hitting camera lenses at various events. The billionaire calls his new chosen one "the most generous and generous person he has ever met." Together they are actively engaged in charitable activities. No details about the couple's upcoming wedding have been revealed.^[18]

Buying a house in a "bunker for billionaires" for $68 million

On August 11, 2023, it became known that Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and one of the richest people in the world, acquired a mansion on Indian Creek Island in Florida, which is known as a "bunker for billionaires." The house cost the new owner $68 million.

It is known that the mansion was built in 1965. It has an area of ​ ​ about 860 square meters and is located on an area of ​ ​ 1.1 hectares. The house has three bedrooms and the infield has a swimming pool.

According to Bloomberg, the estate was previously owned by MTM Star International, which has ties to Panama. Public records suggest Bezos, 59, took over the mansion in June 2023. Prior to this, the last registered sale took place in 1982: then the object was estimated at $1.4 million. Representatives of the structures of the founder of Amazon declined to comment on the deal.

Indian Creek is a city and island in the United States located in Miami-Dade County. It has an isolated location, which is why it was called the "billionaire bunker." Real estate here is owned by businessman Karl Icahn, American football player Tom Brady, former senior adviser to US President Jared Kushner and daughter of ex-US President Donald Trump Ivanka. Property values on the island have soared as it attracts some of the richest people in the world.

There are only about 40 residences in the "billionaire bunker." In addition, there is a country club and its own police department. Bezos is said to be eyeing other purchases in the area as well. Bezos' spending on ultra-expensive acquisitions has accelerated since he stepped down as Amazon CEO in 2021 and after splitting from his wife, Mackenzie Scott. He owns one of the most expensive superyachts in the world, Koru, which was launched in 2023 at a cost of $500 million.^[19]

Buying the largest yacht in the world for $0.5 billion

In April 2023, Oceanco, a private company based in the Netherlands, handed over a mega yacht called Koru, custom-built by billionaire Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. The cost of the vessel is estimated at $500 million.

Koru in Maori culture symbolizes the beginning of a new life. The vessel is approximately 127 meters long and at the time of launch is the largest sailing yacht in the world. There is a swimming pool on the aft deck, and the interior is replete with luxury. Up to 18 guests can be on board at the same time, waiting for many unique design elements. On the nose of Koru is a sculpture of a woman in polished wood in the style of a Roman goddess with developing hair. Outwardly, she looks like Lauren Sanchez - Bezos's lover, with whom he travels on a yacht.

The interior is designed to provide maximum levels of comfort and luxury, with a focus on quality materials, expensive finishes and high-quality furnishings. The main space provides various seating areas, a large dining table and an entertainment center with a TV and audio system. The master bedroom is located on the main deck and includes a huge bed, dressing room and large bathroom with Jacuzzi. Guest cabins are located on the lower deck and vary in size and layout, but offer guests a comfortable and secluded space where you can relax and relax.

For Koru, Bezos ordered an Abeona support support vessel built at Damen Yachting shipyard. This ship is 75 meters long and equipped with a helipad. His arsenal includes speedboats and jet skis. Up to 45 people can be on board the Abeona, including crew members and maintenance personnel.^[20]

2024: $6 billion sale of part of Amazon stake

On February 15, 2024, Jeff Bezos sold another 12 million shares of Amazon.com Inc. worth $2 billion, bringing the total number of shares sold in the last week to more than $6 billion.

Notes