Jeffrey Bezos

Most people believe a leader is either born or made. When it comes to Jeffrey Bezos, I believe it is a combination of the two. Bezos, founder of Amazon. com, was born into a family full of extraordinary people. Jeffreys step-father was a petroleum engineer and his granddad was the man boardr of the Atomic Energy Commissions operations smudge (Bezos, Ebsco). During his childhood, Jeff was intrigued by his surroundings, often finding ways to alter or enhance every twenty-four hour period items. The people and experiences passim Bezos life have helped him become the successful CEO he is today.Jeff Bezos, born Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen, was born on January 12, 1964 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. afterward his parents split up, his mother raised him until he was two years old. In 1966, Miguel Bezos came into the picture. After his mother remarried, Jeff was legally adopted and took Miguels last name. (Bezos, Ebsco) Since a young age, Jeffrey Bezos has been intrigued by the way things work . At three years old, Jeff took a screwdriver to his crib, disassembling it into multiple parts. This trend continued when later down the road he built a burglar alarm with an electronic kit his grandfather had given him (Bezos, Encycl).Bezos grandfather, Lawrence Preston Gise, played a big part in who Jeff is today (Bezos, Ebsco). From age four to sixteen, Jeff would spend the summers living on his grandfathers ranch in Cotulla, Texas (Brandt). Here, Jeffs grandfather put him to work doing antics such as improve windmills and repairing pumps. Bezos grandfather used his background in working on space technology and missile defense force systems to help spark Jeffs interest in similar things (Bezos, Ebsco). But this was just the beginning. At age eight, Jeff was enrolled in a gifted program at his elementary school in Houston, Texas.Jeff used his countersign to wow teachers with his knowledge of computers. While none of the teachers even k peeled how to use a computer, Jeff and almost of his friends had managed to program one. A local author by the name of Julie Ray took interest in Bezos and featured him in her book, turn on Bright Minds A Parent Looks at Gifted Children in Texas. (Bezos, Ebsco) In 1978, Miguel Bezos was transferred to Miami, Florida where Jeffs enthrallment with space began. Jeff went to Palmetto naughty School where he was already thinking out of the box for his time.Bezos hoped to one day become an astronaut on a shuttle that would move out passengers from earth into outer space. (Bezos, Ebsco) Bezos graduated from Palmetto High School in 1982 where he was class valedictorian. Along with this honor, he received recognition from the Miami Herald for his pedantic excellence by winning the Silver Knight Award. Upon graduating high school, Bezos began running his own argument with his whence girlfriend before heading off to college. Jeff spent the summer establishing an educational summer camp for children. Bezos, Ebsco) In the fall of 1982, Jeff began studying at Princeton University in New Jersey. He graduated summa cum laude in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering (Bezos, Ebsco). After graduation, in that respect were many a(prenominal) opportunities awaiting Jeffrey Bezos. He proceeded to go to New York to work for Fitel, a company that allowed him to build a innovationwide communication theory network for financial trading (Bezos, Encycl. ). Two years later, while Fitel was struggling, Bezos accepted a job with Bankers avow Corporation.This tender job opportunity allowed him to develop software applications for the companys pension fund clients. Jeffrey go among the rankings quickly at Bankers Trust within 10 months he became the companys youngest vice-president (Bezos, Ebsco). But soon after, Bezos realized this company was not for him. The next move would prove important in Bezos path to comely an up and coming entrepreneur. In 1990, Jeffrey Bezos was h ired by bulwark channel financial trading company, D. E. Shaw. Bezos duties at D. E. Shaw included looking for new investment opportunities in areas such as insurance, software, and internet.In 1992, Bezos proved he was opened of his role by securing one of the most successful qualitative funds on Wall Street. He was promoted to senior vice-president shortly after. (Bezos, Ebsco) While researching for new business opportunities in the internet sector, Bezos came across some data that would help him in his decision to develop Amazon. com. tally to these numbers, the internet was growing at an exceedingly fast rate. Jeffrey decided it was a good time for his next big step. He quit his job in 1994 at D. E. Shaw and prepared to venture into the world of online retail. Bezos, Ebsco) Jeffrey Bezos began by looking into what products could be sold successfully in the online retail market. He composed a list and determined that books would be the best choice. Bezos told Karen Southwick in October of 1996 that there are 1. 5 million Eng lish-language books in print at any given time. If you take all languages worldwide, its about 3 million books active and in print. Bezos knew from his computer background that an online compartmentalization and organizing database to purchase books would catch on. (Bezos, Ebsco) Jeffrey and his wife Mackenzie packed up and headed for the west coast.Jeffrey chose to start his new conquest in Seattle, Washington. Seattle offered a large number of skilled workers and was located by the largest book distributing company in the get together States (Bezos, Ebsco). After experimenting with different names, Bezos decided to name the company Amazon after the worlds largest river (Bezos, Encycl. ). utilise money from investors, his savings, and his parents, Bezos launched Amazon. com in July of 1995 from his garage in Seattle. At the close of the inaugural month, it is said that Bezos had received orders from customers in all fifty sta tes.The large quantity of books available on the database as well as the new features available on the internet site enticed many customers. (Bezos, Ebsco) Bezos and his colleagues established features that would change internet shopping forever. Amazon was the first of its kind to offer one click-shopping, customer reviews, and e-mail order verification (Hoovers). Bezos main focus of the site was customer satisfaction. Along with these new additions to the site, Amazon was also one of the first companies to encrypt credit cod numbers, ensuring safe shopping for their customers (Bezos, Credo).Jeff Bezos helped familiarize the public with on-line shopping, and it quickly became as popular as a trip to the mall (Bezos, Ebsco). After attracting 3 million customers, Bezos decided to take Amazon public in 1997. Jeffrey Bezos quickly became one of the first internet billionaires (Bezos, Credo). In 1998, Amazon broadened their inventory and began selling new products in order to gain new customers. Along with books, Amazon. com began oblation CDs, videos, electronics, clothing, toys, and games to its millions of customers worldwide (Bezos, Ebsco). In 1999, Amazon. om hit a spacious milestone when its sales crossed the billion-dollar mark. During this same year, Jeffrey Bezos was named Time Magazines Person of the Year (Bezos, Ebsco). What at a time started as a small company in Bezos garage in Seattle had turned into the worlds biggest everything store. In 2000, Amazon. com teamed up with ToysRUs. com to launch a co-branded toy and video game store. However, this new coalition would not last long. Over the next some years, Amazon would dabble in an array of products. In 2002, Bezos began offering clothing sales from large retail stores such as the Gap, Nordstrom, and Lands End.A few years later, in 2006, Amazon. com dabbled in online dry groceries. A year later the company began offering a fresh delivery service for the Seattle area. (Hoovers) In 2007, Amazon expanded once again. Bezos introduced Amazons new electronic portable reader, the Kindle. By 2011, Amazon announced that they sell more e-books than printed books. Along with new items such as the Kindle, Amazon began offering products and services such as self-publishing, online advertising, e-commerce platform, hosting, and a co-branded credit card. (Hoovers) Today, Amazon. om has vanadium international websites for Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The company has an estimated 20 million customers in 160 countries across the world (Bezos, Credo). According to Hoovers Quick Report, Amazon. com employs 56,200 employees as of 2011 at all of their sites. Amazons efficient operate model has allowed it to succeed despite downward pressure on prices. Offering low prices to their customers has been a refer success to Amazons business strategy (Hoovers). As a Business Management major, there are many things one can learn from looking at Jeffrey Bezos life.He saw a business opportunity and did everything he could to make it work. Starting off in his garage in Seattle, Bezos turned Amazon. com into the worlds largest online store. Despite the many years of not turning profit, Bezos managed to make Amazon. com into the company it is today. By snap on customer service, Jeffrey Bezos was able to appeal to new customers and keep the current ones satisfied. Works Cited Bezos, Jeff (1964-). (2010). In The Hutchinson full-length Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide. Retrieved from http//www. credoreference. om/entry/heliconhe/bezos_jeff_1964 Bezos, Jeff. (2003). In Capstone Encyclopedia of Business. Retrieved from http//www. credoreference. com/entry/capstonebus/bezos_jeff Bezos, Jeff. (2004, Jan 1). Leaders of information Age (Bio Ref Bank. Brandt, R. L. (2011, Oct 15). REVIEW Birth of a Salesman Behind the Rise of Jeff Bezos and Amazon Richard L. Brandt on the get togethers Texas Roots, the Sites Chaotic Early Days, Why Negative Reviews a re Allowed and the Increasing Use of Personalized Data. Wall Street Journal, pp. C. 1. -C. 1. http//search. proquest. com/docview/898391472? accountid=2837