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Person

Jeff Bezos

Founder and executive chair of Amazon; founder of Blue Origin.

12 links, 9 backed by primary records

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Dates
12 Jan 1964 –
Place
Albuquerque
Also known as
Jeffrey Preston Bezos, Jeffrey P. Bezos
Background
  • Citizen of United States 1
  • Educated at Princeton University B.S. in electrical engineering and computer science, summa cum laude 1986 23
  • Born in Albuquerque 4
  • Left Albuquerque at about four and moved to Houston, Texas.4
  • Spent summers from age four to 16 working on his grandfather's ranch near San Antonio.4
Family ties
Over time
  1. Life 12 Jan 1964 –
  2. worked at D. E. Shaw & Co. (Senior Vice President (from 1992)) Dec 1990 – Jun 1994
  3. chair of Amazon 1994 –
  4. CEO of Amazon May 1996 – Jul 2021
Jeff Bezos holds

Jeff Bezos was born in Albuquerque. He founded Amazon in 1994 and was its chief executive from 1996 to 2021, and he founded the spaceflight company Blue Origin in 2000.

His maternal grandfather, Lawrence Preston Gise, headed Atomic Energy Commission operations in Albuquerque. Blue Origin builds a lunar lander for NASA.

His mother Jackie Bezos is Gise’s daughter; his father Mike Bezos married her when Jeff was four. After Princeton University he worked on Wall Street, from 1990 to 1994 at D. E. Shaw & Co.. Amazon’s first outside money came from his parents, about $245,573 in 1995, and its first venture capital from Kleiner Perkins in 1996.

Connections 12

founded

CEO of

  • Amazon May 1996 – Jul 2021 Primary record 6

chair of

worked at

  • D. E. Shaw & Co. Dec 1990 – Jun 1994 Senior Vice President (from 1992) Primary record 23

relative of

  • Jackie Bezos mother Primary record 28
  • Lawrence Preston Gise maternal grandfather Scholarship & press 49
  • Mike Bezos father Primary record 24

    He married Jeff Bezos's mother when Jeff was four; Amazon's 1997 prospectus names both as Jeff Bezos's parents.

citizen of

educated at

  • Princeton University 1986 B.S. in electrical engineering and computer science, summa cum laude Primary record 23

owns a stake in

  • Amazon 8.8%, 950,434,581 shares, as of 24 Feb 2026 Primary record 5

born in

Timeline 7 dates
  1. 12 Jan 1964 – Jeff Bezos
  2. 1986 Jeff Bezos educated at Princeton University
  3. Dec 1990 – Jun 1994 Jeff Bezos worked at D. E. Shaw & Co.
  4. 1994 Jeff Bezos founded Amazon
  5. 1994 – Jeff Bezos chair of Amazon
  6. May 1996 – Jul 2021 Jeff Bezos CEO of Amazon
  7. 2000 Jeff Bezos founded Blue Origin
Proof 9 sources
  1. Amazon.com, Inc. Schedule 13G/A (Amendment No. 10) filed by Jeffrey P. Bezos, Jeff Bezos, 14 Feb 2008. Primary record
    Mr. Bezos is a United States citizen.
  2. Amazon.com, Inc. registration statement (Form S-1/A), 14 May 1997, Amazon, 14 May 1997. Primary record
    Mr. Bezos received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Summa Cum Laude, from Princeton University.
    From December 1990 to June 1994, Mr. Bezos was employed by D.E. Shaw & Co., a Wall Street investment firm, becoming Senior Vice President in 1992.
    Miguel A. Bezos and Jacklyn Gise Bezos are the parents of Jeffrey P. Bezos.
  3. Amazon.com CEO Bezos '86 delivers 2010 Baccalaureate address, The Daily Princetonian, May 2010. Scholarship & press
    Amazon.com founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos ’86 opened the University’s 263rd Baccalaureate address with a story from his childhood.
    At the time he made his decision, Bezos had just married MacKenzie Bezos ’92 and was working at the high-powered hedge fund D.E. Shaw.
  4. Jeff Bezos: profile and interview, American Academy of Achievement. Scholarship & press
    Jeffrey P. Bezos was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
    No, I left Albuquerque when I was about four. We moved to Houston, Texas.
    In fact, I spent all my summers on my grandfather’s ranch not far from where we’re sitting right now, not far from San Antonio. And, I spent three months every year from the age of four to the age of 16 working on the ranch with my grandfather
    Jeff Bezos, at the age of 5, with his grandfather, Lawrence Preston Gise, on the family ranch in Cotulla, Texas, 1969.
    She remarried when Jeffrey was four.
  5. Amazon.com, Inc. 2026 proxy statement (Schedule 14A), Amazon, 9 Apr 2026. Primary record
    As of February 24, 2026, we had 10,751,236,247 shares of common stock outstanding.
    Mr. Bezos has been Chair of the Board since founding the Company in 1994.
  6. Amazon.com, Inc. annual report (Form 10-K) for 2025, Amazon, 6 Feb 2026. Primary record
    Mr. Bezos founded Amazon.com in 1994 and has served as Executive Chair since July 2021.
    He has served as Chair of the Board since 1994 and served as Chief Executive Officer from May 1996 until July 2021
  7. Blue Origin: Everything you need to know about the private spaceflight company, Space.com. Scholarship & press
    Blue Origin is a private spaceflight company started by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos in 2000.
  8. Jeff Bezos' mom, Jackie Bezos, dies at 78, WJLA, 15 Aug 2025. Scholarship & press
    Jeff Bezos’ mother, Jacklyn Gise Bezos, has died. She was 78.
  9. Person of the Year 1999: Jeff Bezos, TIME, 27 Dec 1999. Scholarship & press
    Jeff would spend summers there with his grandparents, Lawrence Preston ("Pop") Gise
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