Perseverance is Key: Allow Jeff Bezos to Demonstrate

Sometimes, the faintest idea can hold an eternity of growth. That’s what Jeff Bezos taught us through the years. He had a vision, he believed in it with all he got, and now he’s among the richest people in the world. Let’s talk about the truly inspirational story of Jeff Bezos.

Who is Jeff Bezos?

Jeff Bezos was born on January 12, 1964, to Jacklyn Gise and Ted Jorgensen, and his family had extensive property in Texas that they inherited from his maternal grandparents. 

His mother married Miguel Bezos, who was studying at the University of Albuquerque, and who adopted Jeff. Later on, the family moved to Houston, Texas, where his father worked for Exxon. Jeff spent his time from fourth through sixth grade in River Oaks Elementary School.

His family moved to Miami, Florida, where he attended Miami Palmetto Senior High School and attended a science training program at the University of Florida and was awarded the Silver Knight in 1982.

As a high school student, he began his first work experience through the Dream Institute, an educational summer camp for young students in grades four through six, during which time he graduated.

Bezos entered Princeton University in 1982 to study computer science, and he was accustomed to working in the summer. In June of 1984, he took a job as a programmer and analyst in Norway, and  he developed in the following year a program for IBM in California.

Jeff served as President of the Student Union at Princeton University's Department of Space Exploration, and he graduated from the university in 1986 with honors with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and computer science. After graduating, he worked for several Wall Street companies, such as Fitel Bankers Trust and investment company D.E. Shaw, where he became the youngest Vice President in 1999 and continued for four years. Although his work in the financial field was promising, he decided to resign and leave his position in the company.

How Amazon Came to Be?

Although analysts expected he would not be able to compete with traditional retailers, Jeff Bezos surpassed his competitors within a short period of time, and in 1997, Amazon.com was officially launched.

With time, Amazon began expanding its fields of work, starting in 1998 with videos and CDs. In 2002, it added clothes to its site portfolio.

In 2003, Amazon founded the A9 search engine, which specializes in searching for websites that work in the field of e-commerce. It also launched a store that sells sports products, which includes up to three thousand international brands.

In 2007, Amazon launched the Kindle, which uses electronic ink with a font adjustment feature, making it easier for users to read. Amazon also signed an agreement with The Wylie Agency in 2010 in which it obtained digital rights to the authors' works, which angered them because their opinion was not taken into account in that agreement, but the increase in the percentage of readers and sales of books that benefited them made them change their minds.

Then Amazon introduced the Kindle Fire, a small tablet computer that competes with the Apple iPad with its illuminated touch screens that allow users to comfortably read in the dark.

Jeff Bezos also launched a group of additional services, Amazon Studios, LivingSocial, and Amazon Web Services, where Amazon plans to broadcast TV programs through a live video service.

On August 5, 2013, Bezos bought The Washington Post and its publications for a sum of two hundred and fifty million dollars in cash, ending the four-generational reign of the Graham family.

Jeff launched an experimental service in December of the same year that relies on small drones to deliver orders to customers faster. These drones can carry up to five pounds and fly up to ten miles.

By launching and spreading the idea of online shopping, Amazon is considered Jeff Bezos' most important work.

In addition, in 2004 Bezos founded Blue Origin Aviation, which worked to develop technologies to provide spaceflights to customers. There was no information about this company until a plot of land was purchased for building a testing and launch facility.

Bezos received an honorary doctorate in science and technology from Carnegie Mellon University in 2008, as selected by the U.S. News & World Report and named one of America's best leaders.

In 2011, The Economist gave Bezos the Innovation Award for his invention of the Amazon Kindle, and  he was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Fortune magazine in the following year.

In December 2012, the National Retail Federation awarded Amazon the Gold Medal as well as the title of Retailer of the Year for its contributions to the field.

Bezos’s Personal Life:

Jeff Bezos married MacKenzie Tuttle in 1993, whom he met while working at D.E. Shaw had four children with her and lived together in Seattle, and participated in many charitable causes. They got divorced in 2019 concluding a marriage that lasted 25 years.

Highlights and Achievements:

In 2016, Amazon beat previous Wall Street forecasts by $29.55 billion to reach $30.4 billion in revenue; This income was distributed on shares, amounting to $1.78 per share. Compared to 2015, Amazon shares rose 40%, and managed to achieve good profits for the fifth consecutive quarter, thanks to lower delivery costs to consumers and increased offers, and the cloud storage division achieved sales of $2.89 billion, also beating previous expectations.

In 1999, Time magazine named Jeff Bezos its Person of the Year.

In July 2017, according to Forbes magazine's list of the world's richest people, Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos snatched the title of the world's richest person from billionaire Bill Gates with a fortune estimated at $90.6 billion, after the price of Amazon shares rose by 2.5%.

In 2012, Bezos was chosen by Fortune magazine as Entrepreneur of the Year.

In 2012, Amazon was awarded the Gold Medal by the National Retail Federation, and was named Retailer of the Year because of the site's contributions in this field.

Jeff Bezos has been ranked as the second-best CEO in the world by Harvard Business Review.

In 2018, Amazon generated more than $230 billion in profits and employed about 650,000 people worldwide.

In 2020, Bloomberg reported that the value of Amazon's shares increased by 12 percent, reaching its price of $2,100. With this achievement, Jeff Bezos added $13.2 billion to his fortune within 15 minutes, bringing his net worth to $129.5 billion. The rise in the stock price also added at least $90 billion to Amazon's total market value, exceeding the $1 trillion barrier.

According to the latest statistics of Forbes, the wealth of billionaire Jeff Bezos exceeded the barrier of 162 billion dollars (June 2020).

Finally:

You don’t have to bring the greatest ideas in the world to the table in order to be successful, you just have to be unique enough to stand out and shine. This is the ultimate lesson taught by Jeff Bezos to the world.