Jeff Bezos, the founder, executive chairman, and former CEO of Amazon, is one of the most influential businessmen of the 21st century. Bezos is currently the third-wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of over $124 billion USD. In addition to his 10% stake in Amazon, Bezos has significant investments in Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and his family office, Bezos Expeditions, which manages his personal venture capital and real estate investments.
History
Founded in 2005, the company’s mission is solely to manage Bezos’s personal investments, including his venture capital and real estate holdings. As a single-family office, Bezos Expeditions caters solely to the Bezos family, providing personalized wealth management services and investment advice.
Background in finance
Before founding Amazon, Bezos worked in finance for several years, including a brief stint as a product manager at the Banker’s Trust and as the fourth Vice President at D. E. Shaw & Co., a hedge fund. During his time at D. E. Shaw & Co., Bezos saw the exponential growth of the internet and decided to start an online bookstore, Amazon, in 1994. Amazon rapidly grew, expanding its product catalog and acquiring competitors, and went public in 1997. Today, Amazon is one of the largest companies in the world, with a market capitalization of over $1 trillion USD.
Holdings
Despite stepping down as Amazon’s CEO, Bezos still owns approximately 10.3% of Amazon in shares worth over $175 billion USD. He has also sold approximately $27 billion USD worth of holdings since the company’s IPO in 1997. However, like many other billionaires, Bezos has faced criticism for his tax practices. In some years, he paid no federal taxes despite his significant wealth, and between 2006 and 2018, he paid a net total of $1.1 billion USD in federal taxes.
Investments
Bezos has made significant investments in other ventures, including Blue Origin, a spaceflight and aerospace manufacturing services company he founded in 2000. Blue Origin aims to make spaceflight more economical and accessible to consumers through reusable rocket systems. The company successfully tested its reusable rocket, New Shephard, in 2015, and it had its first commercial, crewed flight in 2021. Bezos also bought the Washington Post for $250 million USD in 2013 and has significant real estate holdings.
Jeff Bezos’s family office, Bezos Expeditions, manages his personal investments and provides personalized wealth management services to his family. Bezos has made significant investments in Amazon, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and real estate holdings, among others. Despite his massive wealth, Bezos has faced criticism for his tax practices. Nonetheless, Bezos’s investments have helped him amass significant wealth and continue to shape the business world.