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Bezos didnt become a billionaire by accident.
He made many smart business choices that got him to the top.
Here are 14 significant moments in his money timeline:
Vice President for D.E.
Hetook a jobwith the new hedge fund D.E.
Shaw & Co. and became a vice president in four years.
In a Frontline PBS interview, Andreas Weigend, former chief scientist at Amazon,explainsthat D.E.
Shaw revolutionized Wall Street by introducing data.
Bezos leaned into this, believing that companies using data were more likely to succeed.
[3] He decided to sell books online.
He chose books because there are more items in the book category than any other by a wide margin.
Selling books allowed him to build an online store with more available items than any brick-and-mortar store had.
Because of this large selection, Bezos named his company after the worlds largest river, the Amazon.
Amazon.comofficially openedon July 16, 1995, and quickly grew successful.
By the end of the second month, its sales reached $20,000 a week.
Amazons business model had two major advantages over other businesses.
First was its vast selection.
The second advantage was its new convenience, with products shipped right to the customers door.
The company appeared on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol AMZN.
The IPO gave Amazon a market valuation of about$560 million.
However, Amazon wasnt yet a profitable business.
This meant that Amazon would lose money to put companies that couldnt compete out of business.
Another advantage Bezos took advantage of to quickly grow and monopolize the book-selling industry was taxes.
Brick-and-mortar businesses were required to charge sales tax for all purchases.
However, online businesses didnt need to charge sales tax, which saved customers money.
On Dec. 27, 1999, Bezos graced thecover of Time magazineas Person of the Year.
Founds Blue Origin
In 2000, Bezos founded a new company with very different goals than Amazon.com.
With this in mind, he createdBlue Origin.
To get the company started, Bezos funded the space company withat least $5.5 billionfrom his own pockets.
On July 20, 2021, Blue Origin launched its first commercial flight to space and back.
The launch vehicle, New Shephard, completed a 10-minute flight into space.
It carriedfour civilian passengers, including Bezos and his brother Mark.
The first ticket on New Shephard received over 7,500 bids from 159 different countries.
The seatsold for $28 million.
Its raised$500 million in fundingand has nearly 11,000 employees.
Originally members paid$79 annuallyfor free two-day shipping on eligible purchases in the U.S.
This membership for free shipping started out as a significant expense for Amazon.
Amazon Prime also adjusted its shipping time to same-day or one-day delivery.
In 2015, Amazon even created a shopping holiday based around the subscription service called Amazon Prime Day.
Along with these added benefits, theprice has also risento $14.99 per month or $139 per year.
Initiates Amazon Web Services
Amazon made another significant expansion in 2006.
It launched the cloud computing businessAmazon Web Services (AWS).
Customers use AWS to power their infrastructure and applications to lower business costs and improve innovation.
Releases First Kindle
In the mid 2000s, Amazon continued to break barriers and innovate.
Bezos changed the publishing industry forever with the release of theAmazon Kindleon Nov. 19, 2007.
The first Kindle retailed for $400.
While e-book readers already existed, theKindlewould grow to be the gear that changed the industry.
Today, the Amazon Kindle comes invarious shapes and sizesand has all sorts of capabilities.
Consumers can purchase a Kindle forunder $100 now.
To further enhance the value of Amazons Kindle, Amazon rolled out theKindle Unlimitedsubscription service in 2014.
The Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited continue to grow the value of Amazon today.
Acquires Zappos
Zappos.com, an online shoe and clothing retailer, got Bezoss attention in 2009.
Employees received an additional $40 million worth of cash and restricted stock units.
Buys The Washington Post
In 2013, Bezos made a big move andpurchased the Washington Post newspaper.
It had belonged to the Graham family for 80 years before Bezos bought it for $250 million.
Before the sale, the entire newspaper industry had been struggling to adapt to consumers move toward the internet.
Within three years of the purchase, the newspaper hadbecome profitableand doubled its web traffic.
Bezos turned the failing newspaper away from an outlet focused on print and moved it into the digital age.
For the first time, Bezos was ranked as the worlds richest person.
His net worth grew by $24 billion during the year, amounting to$123 billionat his peak.
Meanwhile, Gates was worth only $90 billion.
Although other financial details of the divorcewerent released, Bezos kept ownership of The Washington Post and Blue Origin.
Bezoss ex-wife, now referred to as Mackenzie Scott, is the35th most wealthy person in the world.
It was a sentimental date that Bezos chose himself.
He will remain a prominent voice for Amazon, transitioning to executive chairman of the board.
He hopes todevote more timeto other projects, particularly The Washington Post and Blue Origin.
They both have a net worth of$216 billion.
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