King of the Online Jungle: The Early Years of Jeff Bezos
King of the Online Jungle: The Early Years of Jeff Bezos
Jeffrey Preston Bezos was born on January 12, 1964, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At the time, his mother Jackie was still a teenager. She divorced Bezos’ father that same year. When Bezos was five years old, Jackie remarried to Miguel Bezos, a Cuban-born engineer for Exxon. The family moved to Houston, Texas, near a 25,000 acre ranch owned by Bezos’ maternal grandfather. It was here where Bezos would spend most of his summers, learning the basics of everything from veterinary care for cattle to repairing bulldozers in what he now calls “just an incredible, incredible experience.”
Even as a young child, Bezos showed signs of being mechanically gifted; he dismantled his own crib with a screwdriver and rigged his room with an electric alarm to keep his younger siblings out. “Our garage was basically science fair central,” recalls Bezos with a giant laugh. “I think I occasionally worried my parents that they were going to open the door one day and have 30 pounds of nails drop on their head or something.”
After graduating from Miami Palmetto Senior High School, Bezos was accepted into the physics program at Princeton University. However, after struggling to solve quantum mechanics problems that his classmates found incredibly easy, Bezos says, “I realized I’m never going to be a great physicist.” At the same time, Bezos had also been studying computer science and found it was something he excelled at. He had first been introduced to computers in elementary school, where none of the teachers knew how to make any sense of their own mainframe computer; Bezos had taken it upon himself to learn how to program it.
Bezos graduated from Princeton with a degree in computer science and electrical engineering. Although he toyed with the idea of starting his own company, he decided to give himself more time to learn about the business world first. So, Bezos took a job with a brokerage firm on Wall Street, where he was able to use his computer skills to build networks that would help clear trades. “That was where I was working when I came across the fact that the web was growing at 2,300 percent a year,” says Bezos. It was a wake up call for the budding young entrepreneur.
King of the Online Jungle The Early Years of Jeff Bezos
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When McKenzie Tuttle walked down the aisle to say “I do” to her husband-to-be Jeff Bezos, she thought she was marrying into a secure future. At the time, Bezos was in his 30s and serving as Vice President of an investment firm in New York City. It was a job he liked – and one that paid well – but Bezos couldn’t shake this crazy idea from his head; he wanted “to create the world’s most customer-centric company, the place where you can find and buy anything you want online.” That stable life McKenzie once had was almost immediately turned upside down when Bezos decided to launch Amazon.com. As fate would have it, Bezos’ small garage startup would go on to become one of the leading e-commerce sites in the world, with revenues exceeding $8 billion.
Jeffrey Preston Bezos was born on January 12, 1964, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At the time, his mother Jackie was still a teenager. She divorced Bezos’ father that same year. When Bezos was five years old, Jackie remarried to Miguel Bezos, a Cuban-born engineer for Exxon. The family moved to Houston, Texas, near a 25,000 acre ranch owned by Bezos’ maternal grandfather. It was here where Bezos would spend most of his summers, learning the basics of everything from veterinary care for cattle to repairing bulldozers in what he now calls “just an incredible, incredible experience.”
Even as a young child, Bezos showed signs of being mechanically gifted; he dismantled his own crib with a screwdriver and rigged his room with an electric alarm to keep his younger siblings out. “Our garage was basically science fair central,” recalls Bezos with a giant laugh. “I think I occasionally worried my parents that they were going to open the door one day and have 30 pounds of nails drop on their head or something.”
After graduating from Miami Palmetto Senior High School, Bezos was accepted into the physics program at Princeton University. However, after struggling to solve quantum mechanics problems that his classmates found incredibly easy, Bezos says, “I realized I’m never going to be a great physicist.” At the same time, Bezos had also been studying computer science and found it was something he excelled at. He had first been introduced to computers in elementary school, where none of the teachers knew how to make any sense of their own mainframe computer; Bezos had taken it upon himself to learn how to program it.
Bezos graduated from Princeton with a degree in computer science and electrical engineering. Although he toyed with the idea of starting his own company, he decided to give himself more time to learn about the business world first. So, Bezos took a job with a brokerage firm on Wall Street, where he was able to use his computer skills to build networks that would help clear trades. “That was where I was working when I came across the fact that the web was growing at 2,300 percent a year,” says Bezos. It was a wake up call for the budding young entrepreneur.
King of the Online Jungle The Early Years of Jeff Bezos
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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