Not long ago we commented on how the pandemic affected companies' productivity. There you saw different challenges for a series of entrepreneurs in the most diverse sectors. However, during this period, American Jeff Bezos reached a fortune of more than US$200 billion, reinforcing his position as the richest person in the world, according to Forbes.
Despite being the richest person in the world as of 2017, many are still unaware of how Bezos reached such a position.
The early career of Jeff Bezos
In 1986, Jeff Bezos graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from Phi Beta Kappa at Princeton University. And he was soon on the job market on Wall Street, no less, working in the IT area of companies such as Fitel, Bankers Trust and D. E. Shaw & Co. Where he learned more about the business opportunities on the Internet from corporate hedge funds.
This knowledge sparked Bezos’ interest in starting his own business in the tech sector, and in 1994 he founded Amazon.com.
The foundation of the giant Amazon
Like many giant companies in the U.S. market, Amazon was also created in its founder’s garage after Bezos’ delight in his newfound knowledge of “the fast-growing use of the Internet,” intersecting this information with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that exempted package delivery companies from paying sales tax in states where they did not have branches.
Bezos’ parents were also enthralled and invested $300,000 of their retirement savings in Amazon.
According to a description on the Portfolio.com site, Bezos stands out as a person who “is both a happy tycoon and a remarkable micromanager […] an executive who wants to know everything from the minutia of contracts to how he is quoted in every Amazon press release.”.
This attention from the magnate has always allowed him to find business gaps and opportunities, which has ensured him a leadership position in all his investments.
Investment pool diversification and space travel
Any investor worth his salt knows the need to diversify his investment, in other words, “never put all your eggs in one basket”.
Even with the success of Amazon, Bezos has diversified his investments in other major companies:
- Airbnb – virtual home rental platform;
- Aviary – software (photo editing);
- Basecamp – software (project management);
- Behance – self-promotion network;
- Blue Origin – space travel;
- Business Insider – publishing;
- Crowdrise – a for-profit charitable giving platform;
- Domo – software (business intelligence);
- D-Wave – quantum computing;
- General Assembly – technology education;
- General Fusion – sustainable energy (nuclear fusion);
- Glassybaby – supports cancer patients;
- Google – search engine;
- Juno Therapeutics – cancer biopharmaceutical;
- Kongregate – online games;
- Linden Lab – online games (Second Life);
- Lookout – technology (mobile security);
- MakerBot Industries – 3D printers;
- MFG.com – custom manufacturing marketplace;
- Nextdoor – local social networking;
- Pelago – online games;
- Powerset – natural language search engine;
- Pro.com – home services marketplace;
- Qliance – health care;
- Rescale – high-performance computers in the cloud;
- Rethink Robotics – robots for manufacturing;
- Sapphire Energy – sustainable energy (algae crude oil);
- Skytap – cloud computing;
- Stack Exchange – technology publishing;
- TeachStreet – search engine for finding teachers;
- Twitter – social networking;
- Uber – technology and transportation;
- Vessel – streaming video service (competition to YouTube);
- Vicarious – artificial intelligence;
- Workday – workforce management software;
- ZocDoc – software (medical consultations).
Blue Origin, a company founded by the businessman in 2000, is a personal interest, due to his fascination with space, but also a vision of the future with an interest in securing a good slice of the other great fortunes, investing in a company that promises to develop “space hotels, amusement parks, colonies and small cities for 2 or 3 million people living in orbit around the Earth”..
Obviously, these plans are still a long way from materializing. For now, the businessman defines the company’s main goal as “helping people to travel to space”.
On July 20, 2021, Jeff Bezos flew into space alongside his brother, Mark Bezos. The flight lasted more than 10 minutes, reaching a peak of 107 kilometers, garnering publicity that guaranteed the interest of several tycoons around the world to do the same, ensuring the success of another investment by the tycoon. conquistando uma publicidade que garantiu o interesse de diversos magnatas ao redor do mundo de fazer o mesmo, garantindo o sucesso de mais um investimento do magnata.
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