Jeff Bezos
American business executive; founder and executive chairman of Amazon
| Jeff Bezos
| |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 1 1964 (age 62 years old (as of 2026)
) United States |
| Occupation | business executive and investor |
| Known for | Founder and executive chairman of Amazon; owner of The Washington Post and Blue Origin |
| Education | Princeton University |
Jeff Bezos (born 12 January 1964) is an American business executive, founder and executive chairman of Amazon.[1] On 20 October 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Bezos second in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$380.9 billion; Forbes gives the source of wealth as Amazon.[2] The Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as reported by Investopedia, put the figure at US$275 billion on 1 October 2026.[3]
Background
Born 12 January 1964 in the United States.[1]
Education
Princeton University (bachelor’s degree).[1]
In its 2018 Forbes 400 profile text, Forbes stated: "Bezos attended Princeton and worked at a hedge fund before quitting to sell books online."[1]
Career and companies
Founded Amazon in 1994; stepped down as CEO to become executive chairman in 2021. Owns The Washington Post and aerospace company Blue Origin.[1]
How the wealth was made
About 8% of Amazon, plus Blue Origin (valued by Forbes at $130 billion) and other holdings.[1]
Wealth history
Forbes has included this person in its annual World's Billionaires list in 26 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2001. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list, and, where applicable, the rank and estimate in the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans.[4][1]
| Year | World's Billionaires rank | Net worth (US$ bn) | Forbes 400 rank | Forbes 400 net worth (US$ bn) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | – | – | 102 | 1.6 |
| 1999 | – | – | 18 | 7.8 |
| 2001 | 234 | 2.0 | 189 | 1.2 |
| 2002 | 293 | 1.5 | 100 | 1.8 |
| 2003 | 147 | 2.5 | 32 | 5.1 |
| 2004 | 82 | 5.1 | 38 | 4.3 |
| 2005 | 136 | 4.1 | 42 | 4.8 |
| 2006 | 147 | 4.3 | 70 | 3.6 |
| 2007 | 188 | 4.4 | 35 | 8.7 |
| 2008 | 110 | 8.2 | 33 | 8.7 |
| 2009 | 68 | 6.8 | 28 | 8.8 |
| 2010 | 43 | 12.3 | 18 | 12.6 |
| 2011 | 30 | 18.1 | 13 | 19.1 |
| 2012 | 26 | 18.4 | 11 | 23.2 |
| 2013 | 19 | 25.2 | 12 | 27.2 |
| 2014 | 18 | 32.0 | 15 | 30.5 |
| 2015 | 15 | 34.8 | 4 | 47.0 |
| 2016 | 5 | 45.2 | 2 | 67.0 |
| 2017 | 3 | 72.8 | 2 | 81.5 |
| 2018 | 1 | 112.0 | 1 | 160.0 |
| 2019 | 1 | 131.0 | 1 | 114.0 |
| 2020 | 1 | 113.0 | 1 | 179.0 |
| 2021 | 1 | 177.0 | 1 | 201.0 |
| 2022 | 2 | 171.0 | 2 | 151.0 |
| 2023 | 3 | 114.0 | 2 | 161.0 |
| 2024 | 3 | 194.0 | 2 | 197.0 |
| 2025 | 3 | 215.0 | 4 | 241.0 |
| 2026 | 4 | 224.0 | 2 | 378.0 |
Philanthropy
Pledged in 2020 to donate $10 billion to climate causes by 2030 through the Bezos Earth Fund; Forbes reports $2.4 billion granted so far.[1]
Political donations and public roles
Itemised contributions recorded by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Totals are lower bounds: only the top 100 records per name and cycle were retrieved, and memo entries are excluded.[5]
| Cycle | Total (US$, lower bound) | Records | Largest recipient committees (as filed with the FEC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $20,000 | 4 | Blue Origin LLC Political Action Committee ($10,000); Amazon.com Services LLC Separate Segregated Fund ($10,000) |
| 2024 | $15,000 | 3 | Amazon.com Services LLC Separate Segregated Fund ($10,000); Blue Origin LLC Political Action Committee ($5,000) |
| 2026 | $15,000 | 3 | Amazon.com Services LLC Separate Segregated Fund ($10,000); Blue Origin LLC Political Action Committee ($5,000) |
In February 2025 Bezos narrowed The Washington Post’s opinion section to “personal liberties and free markets”; the paper’s opinion editor resigned.[6]
Controversies and legal cases
Company-level: on 26 September 2023 the Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorneys general sued Amazon, alleging that it is a monopolist that uses anticompetitive practices to maintain its monopoly power.[7] Company-level: on 25 September 2025 the FTC announced a $2.5 billion settlement with Amazon over Prime enrolment and cancellation practices: a $1 billion civil penalty and $1.5 billion in refunds to an estimated 35 million consumers.[8]
International and political links
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."
Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements)
Company-level: Amazon Web Services and Google won Israel’s $1.2 billion “Nimbus” government cloud tender in April 2021. This is a contract of Amazon, not a personal action by Bezos.[9]
Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Jewish communal charities
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Gulf states
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
China
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Russia
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
India
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Palestinian or Arab causes
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Home government
Company-level: Amazon planned to donate $1 million to President-elect Trump’s inauguration fund (December 2024).[10] Company-level: on 19 May 2023 NASA selected Blue Origin to develop a human landing system for the Artemis V mission, under a contract with a total award value of $3.4 billion.[11]
Other international links
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Earlier Powerbase text (retained)
This section keeps text from the earlier version of this page, with its original citations. Where it conflicts with the sourced sections above (for example on current job titles), the sections above reflect sources accessed on 20 October 2026.
Jeffrey P. Bezos is the President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Amazon.com.[12]
Bezos graduated from Princeton University with a degree in electrical engineering and computer science in 1986. He founded Amazon.com in 1994.
Affiliations (earlier text)
- Amazon.com - President, CEO, Chairman.
- Blue Origin - Founder.
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Forbes, Forbes profile record for Jeff Bezos (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/jeff-bezos/) Forbes, live record, real-time timestamp 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Investopedia, The 10 Richest People in the World (citing Bloomberg Billionaires Index, figures as of 1 Oct 2026) Investopedia, updated 2 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Forbes, Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read) Forbes, annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ U.S. Federal Election Commission, OpenFEC Schedule A (itemised individual contributions) query, contributor name "BEZOS, JEFF / BEZOS, JEFFREY"; 2024 cycle shown in link, the 2022, 2024 and 2026 cycles were queried with the same parameters; top 100 records per name and cycle; compiler filtered by employer/occupation and excluded memo entries from totals U.S. Federal Election Commission, data as filed; queried 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Associated Press, Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos says opinion pages will defend free market and ‘personal liberties’ Associated Press, 26 February 2025, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ U.S. Federal Trade Commission, FTC Sues Amazon for Illegally Maintaining Monopoly Power U.S. Federal Trade Commission, 26 September 2023, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ U.S. Federal Trade Commission, FTC Secures Historic $2.5 Billion Settlement Against Amazon U.S. Federal Trade Commission, 25 September 2025, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Calcalist (CTech), Amazon's AWS and Google big winners of Israel's $1.2 billion milestone cloud project Calcalist (CTech), 21 April 2021, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Associated Press, Amazon to contribute $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. Meta is also donating $1M Associated Press, 13 December 2024, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ NASA, NASA Selects Blue Origin as Second Artemis Lunar Lander Provider NASA, 19 May 2023, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Biography - Jeffrey P. Bezos, amazon.com, accessed 3 June 2013.