What Jeff Bezos was doing before he launched Amazon

Tech entrepreneur, founder of e-retailer Amazon, world’s richest person – Jeff Bezos has held many titles. These not only define Bezos as a person, but also his penchant for excellence.

Bezos announced on Tuesday that he will step down as CEO of the company he founded nearly three decades ago. In a letter to his employees, the 57-year-old said he would now have more time for his philanthropic initiatives and side projects like space exploration company Blue Origin.

Also Read: Meet Andy Jassy who will replace Jeff Bezos as Amazon CEO

Bezos, who is the company’s biggest shareholder, will still have broad influence over Amazon.

Bezos liked to experiment reportedly from a young age. Many publications have reported a story recounting how he tried to dismantle his own crib as a toddler.

His mother was a teenager when she gave birth to Bezos in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on January 12, 1964.

She remarried when her son was about four years old, and he was legally adopted by his Cuban immigrant stepfather who worked as an engineer at a petrochemical company.

Bezos was enchanted by computer science when the IT industry was in its infancy and he studied engineering at Princeton University.

After graduating, he put his skills to work on Wall Street, where by 1990 he had risen to be a senior vice president at investment firm DE Shaw.

But about four years later he surprised peers by leaving his high-paid position, backed by money borrowed from his parents, to open an online bookseller called Amazon.com.