School of Information Science - Hall of Fame
- Jeff Bezos
- Born: January 12, 1964
- Field: Web commerce
- Focus: Founded and serves as CEO of Internet retailer Amazon.com.
- Country: United States
- Era: 1990 to present
Jeff Bezos is the founder and CEO of Amazon.com, one of the top retail sites on the Internet.
As a high-school student in Florida, Bezos became interested in anything that could be revolutionized by computers. After graduating from Princeton in 1986 (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) with a degree in electrical engineering and computer science, Bezos joined FITEL, a high-tech start-up company in New York. In 1988, Bezos joined Bankers Trust Company, New York, leading the development of computer systems that helped manage more than $250 billion in assets and becoming their youngest vice president in February, 1990.
From 1990 to 1994, Bezos helped build one of the most technically sophisticated and successful quantitative hedge funds on Wall Street for D.E. Shaw & Co., New York, becoming their youngest senior vice president in 1992.
Foreseeing the Internet's capacity for e-commerce, Bezos created a business model that leveraged the Internet's unique ability to deliver huge amounts of information rapidly and efficiently. In 1994, he founded Amazon.com, Inc., an Internet retailer of books, music, and other information-based products that offers services traditional retailers cannot: lower prices, authoritative selection, and a wealth of product information. Primarily because of the success of Amazon, Bezos was named Time Magazine's person of the year in 1999.
Bezos also reportedly operates Blue Origin, a secretive company developing a manned suborbital launch vehicle.
Jeff Bezos and and his family live north of Seattle, Washington, and are increasingly involved with philanthropic activities.