Jeff Bezos is one of the wealthiest men in the world, that is no mystery. We even know how much he makes—the net worth of Jeff Bezos today is about $197 billion.
The Amazon founder is nothing short of a modern economic marvel. But while plenty of people around the world might follow his business dealings closely, how many are completely clued up on the essential Jeff Bezos facts?
Plenty of aspiring business owners have done their best to emulate Bezos’ success story. Considering that the man earns in one second what most people make in a week, Bezos is an obvious inspiration for those looking to make a fortune.
If you want to emulate your capitalist hero, start by digesting these incredible Jeff Bezos statistics.
Jeff Bezos Fascinating Facts
- In 2020, Jeff Bezos kept his hands off options, bonuses, and stocks.
- He did, however, earn $1,600,000 from various compensation types.
- Bezos makes around $8.99 billion a month, which comes to a daily amount of $321 million.
- The annual salary of Jeff Bezos from Amazon is $81,840.
- Bezos reached the groundbreaking $200 billion net worth mark in August, 2020.
- Jeff Bezos founded his private space travel company Blue Origin in 2000.
- On July 20, 2021, Bezos launched into space for less than fifteen minutes with three other crewmates.
Who Is Jeff Bezos?
While we all know plenty about Bezos’ career path, how much do we know about his personal life?
For example, does Bezos have kids?
Who are his parents?
The media mostly focuses on his grand business developments and projects. Here, we take a peek at his personal history.
The Concise Jeff Bezos Biography
Jeff Bezos’ bank account isn’t the only fascinating fact about the Amazon founder. He also has a captivating life story that is worth sharing.
Let’s see what the young Jeff Bezos was like.
1. Jeff Bezos was adopted by Mike Bezos.
(Source: CNN)
Cuban ExxonMobil engineer Miguel “Mike” Bezos adopted Jeff Bezos when he was just four years old.
Jeff was originally born to Theodore Jorgensen and Jacklyn Bezos. When the teenage couple split, Jacklyn married Mike, who took Jeff in as his son.
2. Jeff Bezos has European heritage.
(Source: Distractify)
Naturally, the entrepreneur’s heritage has come into question a few times in the media.
Jeff’s biological father, Ted, traces his heritage from Denmark. As for his mother, Jacklyn, the details are a bit unclear, but her ancestry can most likely be found in England. Jeff Bezos’ ethnicity is then caucasian or European.
3. Bezos has some fascinating family members, like George Strait.
(Source: The Dallas Morning News)
This is one of the lesser-known Jeff Bezos facts. The young Jeff was raised in Texas by Mike and Jacklyn, but they certainly had help doing so.
Take, for example, Jeff’s maternal grandfather Lawrence Preston Gise, who was a member of the US Atomic Energy Commission as a regional director. He also had famous country artist George Strait as a cousin!
This makes us wonder, just how old is Jeff Bezos?
4. Jeff Bezos is nearing 60.
(Source: Biography)
The age of Jeff Bezos might be surprising to some, given his youthful appearance. He was born on January 12, 1964, which makes the pioneering entrepreneur 57 years old.
Now that he is nearing the typical retirement age, Jeff is clearly more focused on space tourism than ecommerce. Hopefully, the eldest son of Jeff Bezos, Preston, will join his astronaut father on the next big Blue Origin trip.
But more on that later.
5. Bezos was a dedicated and impressive student with a 4.2 GPA.
(Source: CNN)
You might be wondering, did Jeff Bezos go to college? Unlike some of Bezos’ hugely successful counterparts, Bezos was hugely committed to his education.
So, where did Jeff Bezos go to college? He obtained a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Princeton University, scoring an impressive 4.2 GPA.
6. Jeff Bezos was the vice-president of D. E. Shaw & Co.
(Source: Wired)
We couldn’t resist including some Jeff Bezos statistics about the entrepreneur’s work-life before Amazon.
Following his glowing academic performance, Jeff was in hot demand by major tech and finance companies like Andersen Consulting, Bell Labs, and Intel.
His first position was at a telecommunications start-up called Fitel, from 1988 to 1990. He then moved to a hedge fund called D. E. Shaw & Co, where he became the vice-president when he was just 30 years old.
7. Jeff Bezos’ sister is Christina Bezos Poore.
(Source: The Focus)
Jeff has a sister called Christina Bezos Poore and a brother Mark Bezos. Christina serves the illustrious Bezos Family Foundation as a co-director.
Mark, on the other hand, is a space tourist that used to work as an advertising executive. He was also one of the crew members in Jeff’s 2020 space mission.
8. The net worth of Mark Bezos is $40 million.
(Source: Entrepreneur)
Jeff’s younger brother, Mark, might not be as wealthy as the eldest Bezos sibling, but he still managed to do very well for himself.
Mark is the co-founder of HighPost Capital, a private equity firm. With an estimated net worth of $40 million, Mark’s position as a volunteer firefighter is incredibly impressive.
9. Bezos has four children: three sons and an adopted daughter.
(Source: CNN)
Despite Jeff’s constant media attention, his children prefer to keep their lives private. For that reason, people have wondered whether Jeff Bezos has kids many times before.
Jeff has four children with his ex-wife, writer Mackenzie Scott. The two share evenly split custody of their three biological sons and adopted daughter born in China.
10. Jeff and his ex-wife Mackenzie had always longed for a daughter.
(Source: iNEWS)
You might be wondering how the daughter of Jeff Bezos was welcomed into the fold. While Jeff and Mackenzie were still married, the couple ventured to China in search of the perfect daughter to balance out their all-male children.
It was there that they found a beautiful little girl that had been abandoned by her parents and decided to bring her back to the United States.
Their daughter is the youngest of their children. Their oldest son, Preston, was born in 2000. As of 2022, the names and ages of the other kids of Jeff Bezos are unknown.
11. Jeff Bezos stepped down from his CEO position on July 5, 2021.
(Source: The Quint)
Recently, Jeff decided that it was time to pass on his CEO position at Amazon. The date was not chosen randomly, however. It marked the 27th anniversary of Amazon’s incorporation, which happened on July 5, 1994.
With the end of his leadership position, what does Jeff Bezos do now?
12. Jeff Bezos is focusing on charity and space.
(Source: The Quint)
Now that Jeff has so much more time (and money) to dedicate to his personal passions, we’ve witnessed an impressive list of activities.
Who is Jeff Bezos without Amazon, you may ask?
For starters, he has become quite the philanthropist, having ramped up his involvement in the Day One Fund and the Bezos Earth Fund.
13. On July 20, 2021, Jeff and his brother Mark took a rocket into space.
(Source: BBC)
Once upon a time, only astronauts were permitted to travel to space. Today, if you happen to be one of the richest people in the world, you can do the same.
In late July 2021, Jeff Bezos, one of his siblings, Mark, and two other crew members took a trip into orbit for around ten minutes.
14. In 2018, Jeff Bezos awarded the “DREAMers” $33 million.
(Source: CNBC)
If you had enough money to do almost anything you want on your birthday, what would you do? If you are Jeff Bezos, you might want to give something back to the world.
In 2018, on his 54th birthday, Jeff Bezos gave $33 million to the DREAM Act, which allows the children of immigrants to remain in the United States. Bezos’ birthday that year was certainly a momentous one for those wishing to become American citizens.
Jeff Bezos Financial Stats
We covered Jeff Bezos’ early history. Now it’s time for the main thing that interests people when it comes to wealthy tycoons.
How much is Jeff Bezos worth? Let’s look at some fascinating financial stats about the Amazon giant.
15. Bezos earns $3,715 in one second.
(Source: Yahoo!)
It might be difficult for ordinary people to understand that, but for a man like Jeffrey Bezos, every second really does count.
To put his insane numbers into perspective, what Jeff earns in a second is more than what most Americans make in a week: $984. And how much does Jeff Bezos make a second? Nearly four times more than that.
16. Jeff Bezos earns $149,353 in one minute.
(Source: Insider)
According to Business Insider, Jeff makes far more in a minute than the average American employee earns in a year.
While the median US salary comes to $47,000, Jeff more than triples that amount in a minute with $149,353.
How much does Jeff Bezos make a day, then? $205 million in 24 hours.
17. The net worth of Jeff Bezos peaked at $211 billion.
(Source: TIME)
On July 6, 2021, Jeff’s net worth hit a record peak of $211 billion. This jaw-dropping figure was reached after a Microsoft cloud-computing contract with the Pentagon fell through.
The 2021 net worth of Jeff Bezos has risen and fallen quite a bit. He and Elon Musk continually trade the “World’s Richest Person” title.
But how did Jeff Bezos make his money in the first place?
18. Bezos made his fortune from Amazon.
(Source: Forbes)
It’s no mystery that Jeff Bezos made a fortune from Amazon. After all, he was the company’s CEO for 27 years.
During this nearly three-decades-long presence in the ecommerce giant, Jeff grew Amazon’s market capitalization to a staggering $1.8 trillion.
19. The majority of Jeff Bezos’ net worth is from Amazon stock.
(Source: Yahoo!)
Perhaps it’s no surprise that the lion’s share of Jeff’s incredible wealth still comes from Amazon. Around July 2020, the company’s stock prices were about $3,055.
Exactly one year later, in July 2021, they were $3,646. These inflated stock prices did wonders for the net worth of Bezos.
20. Jeff Bezos has $1.34 billion in his bank accounts.
(Source: Market Realist)
Contrary to what some people might believe, Jeff doesn’t have his almost $200 billion at his disposal at all times.
The majority of this titanic sum is divided between his public assets ($171 billion) and private assets ($9.5 billion). So, how much money does Jeff Bezos have for himself? His personal cash comes to $1.34 billion.
21. Jeff Bezos made $81,840 in 2020.
(Source: Yahoo! Finance)
When people ask “How much money does Jeff Bezos make a year?”, they generally think of a figure in the millions (even billions).
Surprisingly, Jeff’s annual salary is far more modest than one would expect. A figure like $81,840 sounds almost like an average employee’s salary. Yet, that is what Jeff was getting paid by Amazon.
Jeff Bezos Interesting Facts
They say that money cannot buy happiness, but have you ever asked Jeff if he’s happy?
Certainly, being able to pay your way into space is enough to put a smile on anyone’s face. Being wealthy is one thing, but what is Jeff Bezos’ personal life like?
Let’s look at some Jeff Bezos statistics and facts that humanize the billionaire a bit.
22. Jeff Bezos nearly lost his life in a 2018 helicopter crash.
(Source: Business Insider)
On March 6, 2003, Jeff Bezos took a helicopter ride to scout a property for his Blue Origin space mission. This would be the ideal plot of land to test rockets.
Terrifyingly, Jeff would not make it to the canyon in question, as a strong gust of wind caused his helicopter to lose control. Thankfully, the incident did not end in tragedy. Jeff Bezos survived the helicopter crash and even made it out largely unscathed.
23. Bezos started Amazon from the comfort of his garage.
(Source: Business Insider)
There are plenty of myths surrounding Jeff Bezos. One of the most famous ones involves how he started Amazon.
Much like in a tech genius movie, Bezos and his founding employees commenced Amazon’s program testing in his garage. This is definitely one of our favorite Jeff Bezos fun facts. It is not exactly a rags to riches story, but Jeff certainly enjoyed a humble beginning.
24. Jeff’s mother was only 16 years old when she had him.
(Source: CNBC)
Jeff is incredibly lucky to have a mother as strong and supportive as Jacklyn, but that doesn't mean that things were always easy for the Bezos mother and son.
Jacklyn was only 16 years old when she gave birth to baby Jeff. His biological father, Ted Jorgensen, was 18. Jacklyn and Ted soon married, but their union would not last long.
Jeff was just 17 months old when his parents divorced. The early Jeff Bezos biography is certainly fascinating.
25. Elon Musk is wealthier than Jeff Bezos.
(Source: Forbes)
How rich is Jeff Bezos? The second-most in the world! On September 27, 2021, Elon Musk took first place in the race.
In a typical Elon Musk fashion, the Tesla CEO tweeted that he was sending Bezos a silver medal. Let’s hope that Bezos took Musk’s playful sense of humor in good faith.
What’s Next for Jeff Bezos?
At the time of writing this article, Blue Origin is gearing up to launch its fifth space mission for 2021. While Bezos will not be joining the latest crew, an incredibly acclaimed actor, best known for his role in the original Star Trek series, will be. William Shatner is about to become the oldest person to enter space at the age of 90 years.
Clearly, Jeff Bezos will continue focusing on providing private space tourism to the world’s elite. That, and his new love interest, Lauren Sanches. The two have been spotted out and about on multiple occasions.
Wrap Up
That’s it for our intimate tour of Mr. Bezos’ life. By now, you probably know more astounding Jeff Bezos facts than most people do.
The billionaire is certainly quite a complex character, and his life has taken many twists and turns. From laboring with a small team in his garage to soaring into orbit, Jeff Bezos’ life is one to emulate. We can only hope that Bezos and his space tourism counterparts will soon allow ordinary people a taste of space life.
Sources
Unaware that life beyond the internet exists, Nick is poking servers and control panels, playing with WordPress add-ons, and helping people get the hosting that suits them.