Who Is Jeff Bezos? Inside the Billionaire’s Career Path, Life

^{This article originally appeared on Business Insider.}

Jeff Bezos is one of the most recognizable names in business.

The 59-year-old tech titan worked at a hedge fund before he left to start Amazon as an online bookseller, ultimately growing it into one of the world’s largest companies by revenue. He’s also founded space tourism company Blue Origin, which has flown him to the edge of space.

He’s a fixture in the world’s wealthiest list; currently, Bezos is the third-richest person in the world with a net worth of $158 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

With all of his wealth, Bezos has made some splashy purchases. He’s the 24th-largest landowner in the US with 420,000 acres, according to the 2022 Land Report, with a real estate portfolio boasting mansions in Hawaii, California, Florida, and more. Bezos also owns the world’s biggest sailing yacht, a 417-footer that cost an estimated $500 million.

From his first job flipping burgers at McDonald’s to building Amazon into a trillion-dollar company at one point, here’s a look at Jeff Bezos’ life and career.

Allana Akhtar and Avery Hartmans contributed to an earlier version of this story.

Jeff Bezos’ mom, Jackie, was a teenager when she had him on January 12, 1964.

^{Jeff Bezos with his father, Miguel “Mike” Bezos. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Statue Of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation}

She had recently married Cuban immigrant Miguel Bezos, who later adopted Jeff.

Jeff didn’t learn that Miguel, who often goes by Mike, wasn’t his real father until he was 10 years old, but he told Wired he was more fazed about learning he needed to get glasses than he was about the news.

In 1968, his mother told his biological father, Ted Jorgensen, who previously had worked as a circus performer, to stay out of their lives.

When author Brad Stone interviewed Bezos’ biological father for his 2013 book, “The Everything Store,” Bezos’ dad had no idea who his son had become.

Bezos showed signs of brilliance from an early age.

When he was a toddler, he took apart his crib with a screwdriver because he wanted to sleep in a real bed, according to an account in the book “The Everything Store.”

From ages four to 16, Bezos spent summers at his grandparents’ ranch in Texas, doing things like repairing windmills and castrating bulls.

^{Bezos said he would help vaccinate cattle, fix equipment, and do other chores while at his grandparents. AP Photo/Richard Drew via BI}

Decades later, Bezos purchased his own land in Texas. His acreage is used as the launch site for Blue Origin rockets.

Bezos’ first job was cooking burgers at a McDonald’s in Miami.

^{Bezos became interested in automation during his time at McDonald’s. Joe Raedle/Getty Images via BI}

Bezos described the gig at McDonald’s as “really hard” in a 2001 interview with Fast Company.

“They wouldn’t let me anywhere near the customers. This was my acned-teenager stage. They were like, ‘Hmm, why don’t you work in the back?'” Bezos said.

Bezos has cited his grandfather, Preston Gise, as an inspiration.

^{Bezos said his grandfather was an intelligent, quiet man. AP Images via BI}

At a commencement address in 2010, Bezos said Gise taught him, “it’s harder to be kind than clever.”

As a child, Bezos fell in love with reruns of the original “Star Trek” and became a fan of later versions too.

^{Bezos’ interest in space goes way back. Paramount Pictures via BI}

He even considered naming Amazon MakeItSo.com, a reference to a line from Captain Jean-Luc Picard, according to the book “The Everything Store.” Bezos also considered naming Amazon Cadabra.

In 2016, Bezos even filmed a cameo in a “Star Trek” movie.

At his South Florida high school, Bezos said he wanted to be a “space entrepreneur.”

^{Bezos’ space company is called Blue Origin. Getty Images / Blue Origin via BI}

In school, Bezos would tell teachers that “the future of mankind is not on this planet.”

Of course, he’s made that dream a reality: He now owns space exploration company Blue Origin.

“I do think we have all our eggs in one basket,” Bezos said according to a Wired interview in 1999.

To avoid spending a summer flipping burgers at McDonald’s, Bezos and his high school girlfriend started a summer camp.

^{The name of Bezos’ summer cap was Dream Institute. Kim Kulish/Getty images via BI}

Dream Institute, an educational summer camp for kids, focused on science, math, and reading.

The camp had six kids who each paid $600 for the session — though two of them were Bezos’ siblings. “The Lord of the Rings” series was required reading, and science lessons focused on fossil fuels and space, according to the 1999 Wired article.

Upon graduating high school in 1982, Bezos matriculated at Princeton University, where he majored in computer science.

^{Princeton University. John Greim / Getty Images via BI}

Upon graduation, he turned down job offers from Intel and Bell Labs to join a telecommunications startup called Fitel, according to the book “The Everything Store.”

After he quit…