Jump to content

Jeff Bezos: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
←Blanked the page
m Reverted edits by 76.26.179.190 (talk) to last version by 72.14.229.81
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Infobox Person
| name = Jeffrey Preston Bezos
| image = Jeff Bezos 2005.jpg
| caption = Jeff Bezos 2005
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1964|1|12}}
| birth_place = [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]]
| alma_mater = [[Princeton University]] ([[Bachelor of Science|B.S.]])
| networth = {{gain}}[[US$]]12.6 [[1000000000 (number)|billion]] (2010)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-bezos |title=Jeff Bezos |accessdate=2010-10-31 |quote=Jeff Bezos; $12.6 B; Calculated July 2010 |publisher=[[Forbes magazine]] }}</ref>
| awards = [[Time (magazine)|Time]] [[Time Person of the Year|Person of the Year]] 1999
Washington Ceo Person of The Year at the same time
| occupation = [[Chairman]] and [[CEO]] of [[Amazon.com]]
}}

'''Jeffrey Preston "Jeff" Bezos''' (born January 12, 1964) is the founder, president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of [[Amazon.com]]. Bezos, a [[Tau Beta Pi]] graduate of [[Princeton University]], worked as a [[quantitative analyst|financial analyst]] for [[D. E. Shaw & Co.]] before founding Amazon in 1994.

==Early life and background==
Bezos' maternal ancestors were settlers who lived in [[Texas]], and over the generations had acquired a 25,000 acre (101&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> or 39 miles<sup>2</sup>) [[ranch]] in [[Cotulla, Texas|Cotulla]]. Bezos' maternal grandfather was a regional director of the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|U.S. Atomic Energy Commission]] in Albuquerque. He retired early to the ranch, where Bezos spent most summers of his youth, working with his grandfather at the enormously varied tasks essential to the operation. At an early age, he displayed a striking mechanical aptitude – as a toddler, he tried dismantling his crib with a screwdriver.<ref>[http://www.businessweek.com/1998/50/b3608008.htm 12/14/98 THE TORRENT OF ENERGY BEHIND AMAZON<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Jeff Bezos was born to a teenage mother, Jackie, in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]]. Her marriage to his father lasted little more than a year. When Jeff was five, she remarried, this time to Miguel Bezos. Miguel was born in [[Cuba]], emigrated to the United States alone at age 15, and worked his way through the [[University of Albuquerque]]. After the marriage, the family moved to [[Houston, Texas]], and Miguel became an engineer for [[Exxon]]. Jeff attended [[River Oaks Elementary, Houston|River Oaks Elementary]] in Houston from 4th to 6th grade.

Bezos showed intense and varied scientific interests at an early age. He rigged an electric alarm to keep his younger siblings out of his room and maintain his privacy. He converted his parents' garage into a laboratory for his science projects. The family moved to [[Miami, Florida]], where Bezos attended [[Miami Palmetto Senior High School]].<ref>[http://mpsh.dadeschools.net Palmetto Sr. High School<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> While in high school, he attended the Student Science Training Program at the [[University of Florida]]; which helped him receive a [[Silver Knight Awards|Silver Knight Award]] in 1982.<ref>[http://www.silverknightawards.com/dade_winners.html Miami-Dade Silver Knight Awards Winners]</ref> He entered [[Princeton University]], planning to study [[physics]], but soon returned to his love of computers and graduated ''[[summa cum laude]]'', [[Phi Beta Kappa Society|Phi Beta Kappa]] with a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in [[Electrical_Engineering_and_Computer_Science|electrical engineering and computer science]]. Bezos was awarded an [[honorary doctorate]] in Science and Technology from [[Carnegie Mellon University]] in 2008.

==Career==
After graduating from [[Princeton University]] in 1986, Bezos worked on [[Wall Street]] in the [[computer science]] field.<ref>Graduation date http://www.tbp.org/pages/About/People/DistinguishedMembers/Business.cfm</ref> Then he worked on building a network for [[international trade]] for a company known as Fitel. Then Bezos worked for [[Bankers Trust]], becoming a vice-president. Later on he also worked in computer science for [[D. E. Shaw & Co.]]

Bezos founded [[Amazon.com]] in 1994 after making a cross country drive from New York to Seattle, writing up the Amazon business plan on the way and setting up the original company in his garage.<ref name="portfolio.com">[http://www.portfolio.com/resources/executive-profiles/Jeffrey-P-Bezos-1984 Top Executive Profiles - Jeffrey P. Bezos - Portfolio.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> His work with Amazon eventually led him to become one of the most prominent [[Dot-com company|dot-com]] [[entrepreneur]]s and a billionaire. In 2004, he founded a [[human spaceflight]] [[startup company]] called [[Blue Origin]].

Bezos is known for his attention to business process details. As described by [[Condé Nast Publications|Condé Nast]]'s ''Portfolio.com'', he "is at once a happy-go-lucky mogul and a notorious micromanager. ... an executive who wants to know about everything from contract minutiae to how he is quoted in all Amazon press releases." <ref name="portfolio.com"/>

=== Artificial intelligence ===
<!-- This was once its own article, but was merged into the Jeff Bezos article due to insufficient notability. It should not be made its own article until the criteria of sufficient notability has been met -->
Artificial Artificial Intelligence (AAI) is a term coined by Jeff Bezos with reference to [[Artificial Intelligence]] (AI). Certain processing tasks, such as identifying whether a person in a photograph is male or female, are still performed better and faster by humans than computers. AI is not yet adequate to programming such tasks. The idea of AAI is to outsource those parts of a computer program to humans.<ref>{{cite news |author=[[Jason Pontin]] |coauthors= |title=Artificial Intelligence, With Help From the Humans |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/business/yourmoney/25Stream.html |work=[[New York Times]] |quote=Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon.com, has created Amazon Mechanical Turk, an online service involving human workers, and he has also personally invested in a human-assisted search company called ChaCha. Mr. Bezos describes the phenomenon very prettily, calling it 'artificial artificial intelligence.' |date=25 March 2007 |accessdate=2010-10-31 }}</ref> AAI is the underlying principle behind [[Amazon Mechanical Turk]].

===Recognition===
He was named [[TIME|''Time'' magazine]]'s [[Time Person of the Year|Person of the Year]] in 1999.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,992927,00.html "Person of the Year" profile], ''Time''</ref> In 2008, he was selected by ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'' as one of America's Best Leaders.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/best-leaders/2008/11/19/americas-best-leaders-jeff-bezos-amazoncom-ceo.html|title=America's Best Leaders: Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com CEO|accessdate=2008-11-25}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{TED|speakers/jeff_bezos.html}}
*{{C-SPAN|jeffbezos}}
*{{Charlie Rose view|2618}}
*{{IMDb|1757263}}
*{{Worldcat id|lccn-n99-280137}}
*{{NYTtopic|people/b/jeffrey_p_bezos}}
*{{Nndb|436/000022370}}
* [http://www.portfolio.com/resources/executive-profiles/1984 Condé Nast Portfolio Executive Profile - Portfolio.com (August 2007)]
* [http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/85/bezos_1.html Inside the Mind of Jeff Bezos - Fastcompany.com (August 2004)]

{{Amazon}}
{{Time Persons of the Year 1976-2000}}

{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Bezos, Jeff
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1964-01-12
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]]
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bezos, Jeff}}
[[Category:1964 births]]
[[Category:Amazon.com people]]
[[Category:American billionaires]]
[[Category:American computer businesspeople]]
[[Category:American chief executives]]
[[Category:Businesspeople in internet retailing]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Albuquerque, New Mexico]]
[[Category:Princeton University alumni]]

[[ar:جيف بيزوس]]
[[de:Jeff Bezos]]
[[es:Jeff Bezos]]
[[fa:جف بزوس]]
[[fr:Jeff Bezos]]
[[ko:제프 베저스]]
[[id:Jeff Bezos]]
[[ml:ജെഫ് ബെസോസ്]]
[[ms:Jeff Bezos]]
[[my:ဂျက်ဖ် ဘီဇို့စ်]]
[[ja:ジェフ・ベゾス]]
[[no:Jeff Bezos]]
[[pl:Jeff Bezos]]
[[ru:Бэзос, Джефри]]
[[fi:Jeff Bezos]]

Revision as of 16:52, 13 March 2011

Jeffrey Preston Bezos
Jeff Bezos 2005
Born (1964-01-12) January 12, 1964 (age 60)
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Alma materPrinceton University (B.S.)
Occupation(s)Chairman and CEO of Amazon.com
AwardsTime Person of the Year 1999 Washington Ceo Person of The Year at the same time

Jeffrey Preston "Jeff" Bezos (born January 12, 1964) is the founder, president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Amazon.com. Bezos, a Tau Beta Pi graduate of Princeton University, worked as a financial analyst for D. E. Shaw & Co. before founding Amazon in 1994.

Early life and background

Bezos' maternal ancestors were settlers who lived in Texas, and over the generations had acquired a 25,000 acre (101 km2 or 39 miles2) ranch in Cotulla. Bezos' maternal grandfather was a regional director of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in Albuquerque. He retired early to the ranch, where Bezos spent most summers of his youth, working with his grandfather at the enormously varied tasks essential to the operation. At an early age, he displayed a striking mechanical aptitude – as a toddler, he tried dismantling his crib with a screwdriver.[2]

Jeff Bezos was born to a teenage mother, Jackie, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her marriage to his father lasted little more than a year. When Jeff was five, she remarried, this time to Miguel Bezos. Miguel was born in Cuba, emigrated to the United States alone at age 15, and worked his way through the University of Albuquerque. After the marriage, the family moved to Houston, Texas, and Miguel became an engineer for Exxon. Jeff attended River Oaks Elementary in Houston from 4th to 6th grade.

Bezos showed intense and varied scientific interests at an early age. He rigged an electric alarm to keep his younger siblings out of his room and maintain his privacy. He converted his parents' garage into a laboratory for his science projects. The family moved to Miami, Florida, where Bezos attended Miami Palmetto Senior High School.[3] While in high school, he attended the Student Science Training Program at the University of Florida; which helped him receive a Silver Knight Award in 1982.[4] He entered Princeton University, planning to study physics, but soon returned to his love of computers and graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering and computer science. Bezos was awarded an honorary doctorate in Science and Technology from Carnegie Mellon University in 2008.

Career

After graduating from Princeton University in 1986, Bezos worked on Wall Street in the computer science field.[5] Then he worked on building a network for international trade for a company known as Fitel. Then Bezos worked for Bankers Trust, becoming a vice-president. Later on he also worked in computer science for D. E. Shaw & Co.

Bezos founded Amazon.com in 1994 after making a cross country drive from New York to Seattle, writing up the Amazon business plan on the way and setting up the original company in his garage.[6] His work with Amazon eventually led him to become one of the most prominent dot-com entrepreneurs and a billionaire. In 2004, he founded a human spaceflight startup company called Blue Origin.

Bezos is known for his attention to business process details. As described by Condé Nast's Portfolio.com, he "is at once a happy-go-lucky mogul and a notorious micromanager. ... an executive who wants to know about everything from contract minutiae to how he is quoted in all Amazon press releases." [6]

Artificial intelligence

Artificial Artificial Intelligence (AAI) is a term coined by Jeff Bezos with reference to Artificial Intelligence (AI). Certain processing tasks, such as identifying whether a person in a photograph is male or female, are still performed better and faster by humans than computers. AI is not yet adequate to programming such tasks. The idea of AAI is to outsource those parts of a computer program to humans.[7] AAI is the underlying principle behind Amazon Mechanical Turk.

Recognition

He was named Time magazine's Person of the Year in 1999.[8] In 2008, he was selected by U.S. News & World Report as one of America's Best Leaders.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Jeff Bezos". Forbes magazine. Retrieved 2010-10-31. Jeff Bezos; $12.6 B; Calculated July 2010
  2. ^ 12/14/98 THE TORRENT OF ENERGY BEHIND AMAZON
  3. ^ Palmetto Sr. High School
  4. ^ Miami-Dade Silver Knight Awards Winners
  5. ^ Graduation date http://www.tbp.org/pages/About/People/DistinguishedMembers/Business.cfm
  6. ^ a b Top Executive Profiles - Jeffrey P. Bezos - Portfolio.com
  7. ^ Jason Pontin (25 March 2007). "Artificial Intelligence, With Help From the Humans". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-31. Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon.com, has created Amazon Mechanical Turk, an online service involving human workers, and he has also personally invested in a human-assisted search company called ChaCha. Mr. Bezos describes the phenomenon very prettily, calling it 'artificial artificial intelligence.' {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ "Person of the Year" profile, Time
  9. ^ "America's Best Leaders: Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com CEO". Retrieved 2008-11-25.

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Jeff_Bezos&oldid=418634316"