Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world. But who is the multi-billionaire Amazon founder, how did he start the gigantic tech company and what does he spend his money on? Here’s what you need to know…
Who is Jeff Bezos? The businessman studied electrical engineering and computer science at Princeton University before working on Wall Street. In 1994 Bezos, 55, founded Amazon from a garage – five years later he was named Time magazine’s person of the year. As well as Amazon the tech giant is the founder of Blue Origin, a company working to develop commercial space travel. He also owns the Washington Post and is a volunteer firefighter. Bezos is a massive Star Trek fan and had a cameo in the last movie, playing an alien Starfleet official.
What is Jeff Bezos’ net worth and is he the richest man in the world? Jeff Bezos became the richest man in history when his net worth reached a staggering £78bn ($105.5bn). This makes him the first person to amass a 12-digit fortune since Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who has given more than £44billion ($60billion) to charity, achieved the feat back in 1999. The Amazon founder, who owns about 16 per cent of the business’ shares, had first featured in the Forbes rich list in 1998. Bezos is now believed to be worth $160bn (£124.7bn). The online store has recently expanded into TV services, computers and artificial intelligence. Amazon’s shares have rocketed in recent years and Bezos’ net worth has grown by $70bn since 2012.
Who is Jeff Bezos’ wife? Jeff Bezos is married to novelist MacKenzie Bezos. The pair married in 1993 after meeting while working at a New York hedge fund and have four children together. MacKenzie is also the executive director of Bystander Revolution, an anti-bullying organisation she founded in 2014. Her books include The Testing of Luther Albright and Traps. On Thursday, January 10, Bezos and wife MacKenzie revealed their 25-year marriage was over in a joint statement. The divorce could end up being one of the most costliest in the world.
Did Jeff Bezo have an affair? Hours after Bezos and MacKenzie announced their divorce, intimate details of his affair with TV anchor Lauren Sanchez were published in The National Enquirer. In the sensational statement released on Thursday February 8, Bezos said the magazine’s publishers AMI had attempted a campaign of “extortion and blackmail” against him. He claimed an editor acting on the orders of AMI’s ferocious chairman David Pecker had approached him with “an offer I couldn’t refuse.” “Or at least that’s what the top people at the National Enquirer thought”, Bezos added.
Emails reportedly sent by AMI chief content officer Dylan Howard to Bezos’ lawyer threatened to publish 10 snaps including a naked selfie in the bathroom. Explaining his decision to publish the emails, Bezos wrote on Medium: “Any personal embarrassment AMI could cause me takes a back seat because there’s a much more important matter involved here. “If in my position I can’t stand up to this kind of extortion, how many people can?”
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