Jeff Bezos, born in 1964, transformed Amazon into the world’s largest retail empire, valued at over $1.8 trillion. He stepped down as CEO to focus on his dream of conquering space. As of February 8, according to Forbes’ billionaire list, Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos is one of the richest people on the planet, with a net worth of $192.6 billion.
Journey of Building Amazon
Jeff Bezos started with $1 million raised from family and friends, initially building an online bookstore and gradually expanding the product range, creating a global logistics system. At that time, Amazon was likened to the largest bookstore on Earth, offering over 1 million titles for customers to choose from. By September 1996, Amazon had over 100 employees and achieved revenues exceeding $15.7 million.
Over 27 years, Jeff Bezos transformed Amazon into a giant. Not only did it succeed in the core field of online shopping, but the company also made significant achievements in cloud computing, entertainment, and advertising.
The Dream of Conquering Space
Jeff Bezos stepped down as CEO of Amazon in July 2021 to focus on his aerospace company, Blue Origin. He believes this is necessary for the aerospace company to develop faster and that he wouldn’t have enough time to manage Blue Origin while running Amazon.
Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000 with the goal of expanding humanity’s reach within the solar system. For many years, Blue Origin operated almost entirely in secrecy. He established Blue Origin to develop rocket and spacecraft technologies at lower costs. The company plans to build a lunar lander and collaborates with NASA and other partners to establish a base on the Moon.
In 2015, Blue Origin became the first space company to successfully launch a rocket above the Kármán Line, the internationally recognized boundary of space. The company competes with rivals like Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic. Blue Origin has developed three types of spacecraft: New Shepard, New Glenn, and Blue Moon.
New Shepard is a two-stage rocket capable of carrying astronauts and cargo to an altitude of 100 km, beyond Earth’s atmosphere. New Glenn is a three-stage rocket designed to launch satellites into Earth orbit and spacecraft to the Moon or Mars. The Blue Moon spacecraft is designed to land on the Moon and return cargo to Earth.
