11.Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos

• 

Net Worth

$23.2 B As of September 2012

At a Glance

• CEO, Amazon.com
• Age: 48
• Source of Wealth: Amazon.com, self-made
• Residence: Seattle, WA
• Country of Citizenship: United States
• Education: Bachelor of Arts / Science, Princeton University
• Marital Status: Married
• Children: 4

Forbes Lists

#11 Forbes 400

#26 Forbes Billionaires 

#15 in United States

#40 Powerful People

 

Profile:

Jeff Bezos' online book giant Amazon.com is now the world's largest internet retailer of any kind, reporting over $48 billion in 2011 sales. The company now sells more Kindle e-books than the traditional variety. Bezos continues to invest in side projects that fuel his adventurous side. In March, he announced his Bezos Expeditions had discovered the lost engines from the historic Apollo 11 moon landing mission on the ocean floor. Now, his exploration company will attempt to bring those F-1 rocket launchers to the surface. Bezos also funnels money into aerospace firm Blue Origin, a West Texas-based research and development outfit working to create a vertical take-off and landing rocket. The Amazon billionaire faced criticism in recent months about allegedly unsafe conditions in his company's warehouses. In May, the retail giant assured shareholders it was spending $52 million to install air conditioners, among other improvements. In the meantime, he's looking to add robots to his workforce: in March, Amazon bought robotics firm Kiva Systems for $775 million in hopes of speeding up its order fulfillment process. While Bezos and wife Mackenzie are notoriously private, they made headlines in July for a rare public donation: $2.5 million to Washington United for Marriage, a group backing Referendum 74, which would legalize same-sex marriage in the couple's home state. Princeton grad Bezos once worked at hedge fund D.E. Shaw; he quit Wall Street before his 30th birthday to sell books online from his Seattle garage. He founded Amazon.com in 1994 and took it public three years later. Amazon didn't turn a profit until late 2001.