116-479: Jeffrey Preston Bezos ( / ˈ b eɪ z oʊ s / BAY -zohss ; né Jorgensen ; born January 12, 1964) is an American business magnate best known as the founder, executive chairman, and former president and CEO of Amazon , the world's largest e-commerce and cloud computing company. He is the second wealthiest person in the world, with a net worth of US$ 230 billion as of November 13, 2024, according to Forbes and Bloomberg Billionaires Index . He
232-506: A Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE), summa cum laude . After Bezos graduated from college in 1986, he was offered jobs at Intel , Bell Labs , and Andersen Consulting , among others. He first worked at Fitel, a fintech telecommunications start-up , where he was tasked with building a network for international trade . Bezos was promoted to head of development and director of customer service thereafter. He transitioned into
348-577: A man's surname at birth that has subsequently been replaced or changed. The diacritic mark (the acute accent ) over the e is considered significant to its spelling, and ultimately its meaning, but is sometimes omitted. According to Oxford University 's Dictionary of Modern English Usage , the terms are typically placed after the current surname (e.g., " Margaret Thatcher , née Roberts" or " Bill Clinton , né Blythe"). Since they are terms adopted into English (from French), they do not have to be italicized , but they often are. In Polish tradition ,
464-659: A U.S. Census 1970 report, Cuban Americans were present in all fifty states. But as later Census reports demonstrated, the majority of Cuban immigrants settled in Miami-Dade County. Emigration from Cuba began to slow down in the late 1990s. Meanwhile, second-generation Cuban Americans increasingly moved out of urban enclaves like Little Havana and settled in suburban areas like Westchester , while those urban areas came to be inhabited by immigrants from other Latin American nations. In late 1999, U.S. news media focused on
580-456: A business loan. These loans enabled many Cuban Americans to secure funds and start up their own businesses. With their Cuban-owned businesses and low cost of living, Miami, Florida and Union City, New Jersey (dubbed Havana on the Hudson ) were the preferred destinations for many immigrants and soon became the main centers for Cuban-American culture. According to author Lisandro Perez, Miami
696-691: A fair amount of job security". Around 750 employees at The Washington Post went on a brief strike in December 2023 in response to Bezos' plans to lay off staff. In 2024, Bezos blocked the Washington Post ' s editorial board from endorsing Kamala Harris in the presidential election . The move was criticized by former editor Marty Baron , who considered it to be an act of "disturbing spinelessness at an institution famed for courage" and said that it would invite intimidation of Bezos by Donald Trump. Editor-at-large Robert Kagan also resigned in
812-650: A family of Baptists. After completing high school despite challenging conditions, Jacklyn attended night school, bringing her baby with her. Jeff attended a Montessori school in Albuquerque when he was 2. Ted struggled with alcohol and with his finances. Jacklyn left her husband to live with her parents, filing for divorce in June 1965 when Jeff was 17-months-old. After his parents divorced, his mother married Cuban immigrant Miguel "Mike" Bezos in April 1968. Shortly after
928-663: A fourth unit in that building for $ 5.3 million in 2012. In February 2020, Bezos purchased the Warner Estate from David Geffen for $ 165 million, a record price paid for a residence in the Los Angeles area. The previous record high price of $ 150 million was paid by Lachlan Murdoch for the Chartwell Mansion . During the COVID-19 pandemic , it was reported that Bezos's fortune had grown by $ 24 billion, citing
1044-739: A life-extension research firm hoping to slow or stop the process of aging. Bezos is involved in the healthcare sector, which includes investments in Unity Biotechnology, GRAIL , Juno Therapeutics , and Zocdoc . In January 2018, an announcement was made concerning Bezos's role within a new, unnamed healthcare company. This venture, later named Haven , is expected to be a partnership between Amazon, JPMorgan , and Berkshire Hathaway . Bezos also supports philanthropic efforts through direct donations and non-profit projects funded by Bezos Expeditions. Bezos used Bezos Expeditions to fund several philanthropic projects, including an Innovation center at
1160-477: A low profile until 2006 when it purchased a large tract of land in West Texas for a launch and test facility. After the company gained the public's attention during the late 2000s, Bezos additionally indicated his interest in reducing the cost of space travel for humans while also increasing the safety of extraterrestrial travel. In September 2011, one of the company's uncrewed prototype vehicles crashed during
1276-509: A major drop-off point for Cubans trying to reach the United States illegally. As a U.S. Commonwealth , Puerto Rico is seen as a stepping stone for Cubans trying to get to the continental U.S., though Puerto Rico itself is home to a number of Cubans. Before the 1980s, all refugees from Cuba were welcomed into the United States as political refugees. This changed in the 1990s so that only Cubans who reach U.S. soil are granted refuge under
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#17327801622401392-757: A major interest for Cuban Americans and a growing segment in the family research industry. This has complemented assimilation by preserving Cuban and colonial roots, while also adopting American culture and values. Cuban Americans are mostly Roman Catholic , but some Cubans practice syncretic religions (such as Santería or Ifá ), which evolved from mixing the Catholic religion with the traditional African religion. There are also many Protestant (primarily Pentecostal ) Cubans, with small numbers of syncretist , nonreligious or tiny communities of Jewish and Muslim Cuban Americans. The Protestant movement in Cuba started after
1508-695: A mathematical problem and as a result, Bezos himself admitted that he gave up his dreams of becoming a theoretical physicist. Bezos was a member of the Quadrangle Club , one of Princeton's 11 eating clubs . In addition, he was the president of the Princeton chapter of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS). He had a 4.2 GPA and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi . Bezos graduated from Princeton in 1986 with
1624-517: A millionaire in 1997 after raising $ 54 million through Amazon's initial public offering (IPO). He was first included on the Forbes World's Billionaires list in 1999 with an estimated net worth of $ 10.1 billion, which placed his on the 19th position in the world and 10th in the USA. His net worth decreased to $ 6.1 billion a year later, a 40.5% drop. His wealth plummeted even more
1740-648: A new orbital launch vehicle was under development and would make its first flight in the late-2010s. Later in November, Blue Origin's New Shepard space vehicle successfully rocketed into space and reached its planned test altitude of 329,839 feet (100.5 kilometers) before executing a vertical landing back at the launch site in West Texas. In 2016, Bezos allowed select journalists to visit, tour, and photograph his facility. He has repeatedly called for increased inter-space energy and industrial manufacturing to decrease
1856-553: A profound cultural impact as a result, as seen in such aspects of their local culture as cuisine, fashion, music, entertainment and cigar -making. Another large wave (an estimated 125,000 people) of Cuban immigration occurred in the early 1980s with the Mariel boatlifts . Most of the "Marielitos" were people wanting to escape from economic stagnation. Fidel Castro sent some 20,000 criminals directly from Cuban prisons, as well as mentally ill persons from Cuban mental institutions, with
1972-446: A registered net worth of $ 112 billion. He unseated Bill Gates ($ 90 billion), who was $ 6 billion ahead of Warren Buffett ($ 84 billion), ranked third. He is considered the first registered centi-billionaire (not adjusted for inflation ). His wealth, in 2017–18 terms, equaled that of 2.7 million Americans. Bezos's net worth increased by $ 33.6 billion from January 2017 to January 2018. This increase outstripped
2088-731: A rented garage in Bellevue , Washington on July 5, 1994, after writing its business plan on a cross-country drive from New York City to Seattle . With Bezos at the helm and Scott taking an integral role in its operation—writing checks, keeping track of the books, and negotiating the company's first freight contracts—the foundation was laid for this garage-run operation to grow exponentially. Prior to settling in Seattle, Bezos had investigated setting up his company at an Indian reservation near San Francisco in order to avoid paying taxes. Bezos initially named his new company Cadabra but later changed
2204-486: A result of deteriorating relations with the Spanish metropolis. 1869 marked the beginning of one of the most significant periods of emigration from Cuba to the United States, again centered on Key West. The exodus of hundreds of workers and businessmen was linked to the manufacture of tobacco. The reasons are many: the introduction of more modern techniques of elaboration of snuff, the most direct access to its main market,
2320-485: A road trip from New York City to Seattle . The company began as an online bookstore and has since expanded to a variety of other e-commerce products and services, including video and audio streaming, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence . It is the world's largest online sales company, the largest Internet company by revenue , and the largest provider of virtual assistants and cloud infrastructure services through its Amazon Web Services branch. Bezos founded
2436-646: A short-hop test flight. Although the crash was viewed as a setback, news outlets noted how far the company went from its founding-to-date in advancing spaceflight . After the crash, Bezos has been superstitiously wearing his "lucky" Texas Cowboy boots to all rocket launches. In May 2013, Bezos met with Richard Branson , chairman of Virgin Galactic , to discuss commercial spaceflight opportunities and strategies. He has been compared to Branson and Elon Musk as all three are billionaires who prioritize spaceflight among their business interests. In 2015, Bezos announced that
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#17327801622402552-564: A short-order line cook during the breakfast shift. Bezos attended the Student Science Training Program at the University of Florida . He was high school valedictorian , a National Merit Scholar , and a Silver Knight Award winner in 1982. In his graduation speech, Bezos told the audience he dreamed of the day when mankind would colonize space . A local newspaper quoted his intention "to get all people off
2668-527: A start capital of $ 3 billion and an executive team led by Hal Barron . Journalist Nellie Bowles of The New York Times has described the public persona and personality of Bezos as that of "a brilliant but mysterious and coldblooded corporate titan". During the 1990s, Bezos earned a reputation for relentlessly pushing Amazon forward, often at the expense of public charity and social welfare. Journalist Mark O'Connell criticized Bezos's relentless customer focus as "very small" in terms of impact on humanity as
2784-597: A surge in demand from households on lockdown shopping on Amazon. He further expanded his residential holdings in February 2022, purchasing a $ 16.13-million-dollar apartment at a 24-story boutique condominium, located across from Madison Square Park in the Flatiron neighbourhood, where he already owns all the units on the top floors. Bezos is the owner of the Y721 , a luxury superyacht estimated to cost more than $ 500,000,000; it
2900-895: A total value of $ 4 billion. Bezos announced that he intended to sell 50 million shares in Amazon over the next year. In September 2000, Bezos founded Blue Origin, a human spaceflight startup . Bezos has long expressed an interest in space travel and the development of human life in the Solar System. His 1982 high school valedictorian senior graduation speech was followed up with a Miami Herald interview in which he expressed an interest to build and develop hotels, amusement parks, and colonies for human beings who were in orbit. The 18-year-old Bezos stated that he wanted to preserve Earth from overuse through resource depletion . Rob Meyerson led Blue Origin from 2003 to 2017 and served as its first president. After its founding, Blue Origin maintained
3016-419: A two-pizza rule—a preference that meetings are small enough for two pizzas to feed everyone in the boardroom. When interviewing candidates for jobs at Amazon, he has stated he considers three inquiries: can he admire the person, can the person raise the common standard , and under what circumstances could the person become exemplary. In 2018, it was reported that he met with Amazon investors for just six hours
3132-460: A unique group of people who bear their own traditions and perspectives. Cuban food is varied, though rice is a staple and commonly served at lunch and dinner. Other common dishes are arroz con pollo (chicken and rice), pan con bistec ( steak sandwich ), platanos maduros (sweet plantains ), lechon asado (pork), yuca ( cassava root ), flan , batido de mamey (mamey milkshake ), papayas and guava paste. A common lunch staple
3248-399: A whole, a sentiment technologist Tim O'Reilly agreed with. His business practices projected a public image of prudence and parsimony with his own wealth and that of Amazon. In 1999, Bezos was worth $ 10 billion yet drove a 1996 Honda Accord . Throughout the early 2000s, he was perceived to be geeky or nerdy. Bezos was seen by some as needlessly quantitative and data-driven. This perception
3364-415: A year. Instead of using presentation slides , Bezos requires high-level employees to present information with six-page narratives. Since 1998, Bezos has published an annual letter for Amazon shareholders wherein he frequently refers to five principles: focus on customers, not competitors; take risks for market leadership ; facilitate staff morale; build a company culture ; and empower people. Bezos maintains
3480-461: Is always Day 1" to describe his growth mindset . Bezos used what he called a "regret-minimization framework" while working at D. E. Shaw and again during the early years of Amazon. He described this life philosophy by stating: "When I'm 80, am I going to regret leaving Wall Street? No. Will I regret missing the beginning of the Internet? Yes." During the 1990s and early 2000s at Amazon, he
3596-541: Is derived from diverse peoples from Middle East places such as Lebanon and Palestine. There was also a significant influx of Jews , especially between the World Wars, from many countries, including Sephardi Jews from Turkey and Ashkenazi Jews from Poland , Germany and Russia . Other Europeans that have contributed include Britons , Italians , Germans , Swedes and Hungarians . Many Chinese also arrived in Cuba as indentured laborers and they formerly boasted
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3712-536: Is much lower than the 20% among other Latino groups. While roughly half of all Cuban-Americans indicate that they feel more proficient in Spanish, around 60% of all Cuban-Americans do speak English proficiently. 36% of all Cuban-Americans consider themselves bilingual. The choice of many Cuban-Americans to utilize Spanish in the home connects to the desire of Cuban-Americans to retain their ethnic heritage. While many Cuban-Americans are open to some assimilation into American culture, ultimately they still consider themselves
3828-416: Is the feminine past participle of naître , which means "to be born". Né is the masculine form. The term née , having feminine grammatical gender , can be used to denote a woman's surname at birth that has been replaced or changed. In most English-speaking cultures, it is specifically applied to a woman's maiden name after her surname has changed due to marriage. The term né can be used to denote
3944-909: Is the largest yacht in the world. According to Forbes Bezos was the second-wealthiest person in America and the third-wealthiest person in the world in 2023. Bezos is the second-wealthiest person in the world according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index . His net worth is about US$ 197 billion as of February 2024. Bezos is known for creating an adversarial environment at Amazon, as well as insulting and verbally abusing his employees . As journalist Brad Stone revealed in his book The Everything Store , Bezos issued remarks to his employees such as "I'm sorry, did I take my stupid pills today?", "Are you lazy or just incompetent?", and "Why are you ruining my life?" Additionally, Bezos reportedly pitted Amazon teams against each other, and once refused to give Amazon employees city bus passes in order to discourage them from leaving
4060-598: The Forbes Real Time Billionaires Index and the second ever to have eclipsed the feat since Bill Gates in 1999, Bezos was named the "richest man in modern history" after his net worth increased to $ 150 billion in July 2018. In August 2020, according to Forbes , he had a net worth exceeding $ 200 billion. On July 5, 2021, Bezos stepped down as the CEO and president of Amazon and took over
4176-610: The Captaincy General of Cuba . Consequently, Cuban immigration to regions that would eventually form the United States have a long history, beginning in the Spanish colonial period in 1565 when the settlement of St. Augustine was established by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and hundreds of Spanish soldiers and their families moved from Cuba to St. Augustine to establish new lives. Thousands of Cuban settlers also immigrated to Louisiana between 1778 and 1802 and Texas during
4292-575: The Forbes list was calculated in March 2016, his net worth was registered at $ 45.2 billion. However, just months later in October 2016, his wealth increased by $ 16.2 billion to $ 66.5 billion, unofficially ranking him the third-richest person in the world, behind Warren Buffett . After sporadic jumps in Amazon's share price, in July 2017 he briefly unseated Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as
4408-774: The International Trade Union Confederation named Bezos the "World's Worst Boss", with its general secretary Sharan Burrow saying: "Jeff Bezos represents the inhumanity of employers who are promoting the North American corporate model", while in 2019, Harvard Business Review , which ranked Bezos the best-performing CEO for 4 years in a row since 2014, did not rank him even in the top 100, citing Amazon's "relatively low ESG ( environment , social , and governance ) scores" that reflect "risks created by working conditions and employment policies, data security , and antitrust issues." During
4524-757: The Seattle Museum of Flight . In September 2021, Bezos co-founded Altos Labs with Mail.ru founder Yuri Milner . Altos Labs is a well-funded biotechnology company dedicated to harnessing cellular reprogramming to develop longevity therapeutics . The company has recruited prominent scientists such as Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte (known for work on rejuvenation through reprogramming), Steve Horvath (known for work in epigenetic aging clocks ), and Shinya Yamanaka (the Nobel Prize -winning inventor of cellular reprogramming in mammalian cells). The company left stealth mode and launched on January 19, 2022, with
4640-607: The Tampa Bay area 's Cuban population grew from almost nothing to the largest in Florida in just over a decade, and the city as a whole grew from a village of approximately 1000 residents in 1885 to over 16,000 by 1900. Both Ybor City and West Tampa were instrumental in Cuba's eventual independence. Inspired by revolutionaries such as Jose Martí , who visited Florida several times, Tampa-area Cubans and their sympathetic neighbors donated money, equipment, and sometimes their lives to
4756-831: The Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico ; many landed on Isla Mujeres . From there Cuban immigrants traveled to the Texas-Mexico border and found asylum. Many of the Cubans who did not have family in Miami settled in Houston ; this has caused Houston's Cuban-American community to increase in size. The term "dusty foot" refers to Cubans emigrating to the U.S. through Mexico. In 2005 the Department of Homeland Security had abandoned
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4872-620: The aerospace manufacturer and sub-orbital spaceflight services company Blue Origin in 2000. Blue Origin's New Shepard vehicle reached space in 2015 and afterwards successfully landed back on Earth; he flew into space on Blue Origin NS-16 in 2021. He purchased the major American newspaper The Washington Post in 2013 for $ 250 million and manages many other investments through his venture capital firm, Bezos Expeditions . In September 2021, Bezos co-founded Altos Labs with Mail.ru founder Yuri Milner . The first centibillionaire on
4988-540: The indigenous peoples of the Caribbean and those of Florida . During the 18th, 19th and early part of the 20th century, there were waves of Spanish immigration to Cuba ( Castilians , Basques , Canarians , Catalans , Andalusians , Asturians and Galicians ). Canarians immigrated to many countries along the Caribbean from Louisiana to Venezuela. But Cuba was the Latin American culture most influenced by
5104-738: The third quarter of 2021 he would step down from his role as CEO of Amazon to become the Executive Chairman of the Amazon Board. He was succeeded as CEO by Andy Jassy . On February 2, 2021, Bezos sent an email to all Amazon employees, telling them the transition would give him "the time and energy [he] need[s] to focus on the Day 1 Fund , the Bezos Earth Fund , Blue Origin , The Washington Post , and [his] other passions." In February 2024, Bezos sold 24 million shares in Amazon at
5220-597: The " wet foot, dry foot policy ". While representing a tightening of U.S. immigration policy, the wet foot, dry foot policy still affords Cubans a privileged position relative to other immigrants to the U.S. This privileged position is the source of a certain friction between Cuban Americans and other Latino citizens and residents in the United States, adding to the tension caused by the divergent foreign policy interests pursued by conservative Cuban Americans. Cuban immigration also continues with an allotted number of Cubans (20,000 per year) provided legal U.S. visas. According to
5336-682: The "wealthiest person in modern history" by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index , Fortune , MarketWatch , The Wall Street Journal , and Forbes . In 2019, Bezos's wealth was reduced by the divorce from his wife MacKenzie Bezos . According to Forbes , had the Washington state common law applied to their divorce without a prenuptial agreement, Bezos's wealth could have been equitably divided with his ex-wife; however, she eventually received 25% of Bezos's Amazon shares, then valued at approximately $ 36 billion, making her
5452-404: The 43rd spot on the ranking from 68th. After a rumor broke out that Amazon was developing a smartphone , Bezos's net worth rose to $ 30.5 billion in 2014. A year later, he entered the top ten when he increased his net worth to a total of $ 50.3 billion. Bezos rose to become the fifth richest person in the world hours before market close ; he gained $ 7 billion in one hour. By the time
5568-622: The Amazon workforce. In 2003, Amazon rebounded from financial instability and turned a profit of $ 35 million. In November 2007, Bezos launched the Amazon Kindle . According to a 2008 Time profile, Bezos wished to create a device that allowed a " flow state " in reading similar to the experience of video games. In 2013, Bezos secured a $ 600-million contract with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on behalf of Amazon Web Services. In October of that year, Amazon
5684-519: The Cuban national anthem. In 1885, Vicente Martinez Ybor moved his cigar operations from Key West to the town of Tampa, Florida to escape labor strife. Ybor City was designed as a modified company town , and it quickly attracted thousands of Cuban workers from Key West and Cuba with Spanish and Italian immigrant workers. West Tampa , another new cigar manufacturing community, was founded nearby in 1892 and also grew quickly. Between these communities,
5800-469: The Internet" than anyone else. Bezos has been characterized as a notoriously opportunistic CEO who operates with little concern for obstacles and externalities . During the early 2010s, Bezos solidified his reputation for aggressive business practices, and his public image began to shift. Bezos started to wear tailored clothing ; he weight trained , pursued a regimented diet and began to freely spend his money. His physical transformation has been compared to
5916-647: The President's negative comments; this reduced Bezos's personal wealth by $ 10.7 billion. Weeks later, Bezos recouped his losses when academic reports out of Stanford University indicated that Trump could do little to regulate Amazon in any meaningful way. During July 2018, a number of members of the U.S. Congress called on Bezos to detail the applications of Amazon's face recognition software, Rekognition . Criticism of Amazon's business practices continued in September 2018 when Senator Bernie Sanders introduced
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#17327801622406032-654: The Seattle Museum of History and Industry and the Bezos Center for Neural Circuit Dynamics at Princeton Neuroscience Institute . In 2013, Bezos Expeditions funded the recovery of two Saturn V first-stage Rocketdyne F-1 engines from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. They were positively identified as belonging to the Apollo 11 mission's S-1C stage from July 1969. The engines are currently on display at
6148-472: The Spanish–American War when many Americans came to Cuba. Similar to the 67% of other Latinos, 69% of Cubans under 18 speak a language other than English at home. For Cubans over the age of 18, the percent speaking a language other than English at home climbs to 89%, which is higher than the 80% among other Latino groups. Only 12% of Cubans under the age of 18 speak English less than very well, which
6264-614: The Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies (Stop BEZOS) Act and accused Amazon of receiving corporate welfare . This followed revelations by the non-profit group New Food Economy which found that one third of Amazon workers in Arizona , and one tenth of Amazon workers in Pennsylvania and Ohio , relied on food stamps. While preparing to introduce the bill, Sanders opined: "Instead of attempting to explore Mars or go to
6380-585: The U.S. Their parents were afraid that their children were going to be sent to some Soviet bloc countries to be educated and they decided to send them to the States as soon as possible. This program was called Operation Peter Pan ( Operacion Pedro Pan ). When the children arrived in Miami they were met by representatives of Catholic Charities and they were sent to live with relatives if they had any or were sent to foster homes, orphanages or boarding schools until their parents could leave Cuba. From 1965 to 1973, there
6496-574: The US population. Of the 1,241,685 Cuban Americans, 983,147 were born abroad in Cuba and 628,331 were U.S. born. Of the 1.6 million, 415,212 were not U.S. citizens. In the 2013 ACS, there were 2,013,155 Cuban Americans. The 2010 US Census shows that 85% of Cuban Americans self-identified as being white. The most recent 2012 Cuban census has the island population at 64.12% white, 26.62% mulatto , 9.26% black , and 0.1% Asian . The ancestry of Cuban Americans includes Spanish and African peoples , as well as
6612-540: The United States, the uncertainty about the future of the island, which had suffered years of economic, political and social unrest during the beginning of the Ten Years' War against Spanish rule. It was an exodus of skilled workers, precisely the class in the island that had succeeded in establishing a free labor sector amid a slave economy. Tampa was added to such efforts, with a strong migration of Cubans, which went from 720 inhabitants in 1880 to 5,532 in 1890. However,
6728-581: The United States, where Cubans were intercepted at the Southern border over 300,000 times. In the mid- to late 19th century, several cigar manufacturers moved their operations to Key West to get away from growing laboral and political problems. Many Cuban cigar workers followed. The Cuban government had even established a grammar school in Key West to help preserve Cuban culture. There, children learned folk songs and patriotic hymns such as " La Bayamesa ",
6844-721: The United States. Among other significant Cuban American populations is that of the Louisville area of Kentucky and nearby areas of Indiana which according to some sources is around 60,000 and growing quickly. Before the Louisiana Purchase and the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, Spanish Florida and other possessions of Spain on the Gulf Coast west of the Mississippi River were provinces of
6960-509: The Western United States at 1.96% of the population. Cuban Americans have been very successful in establishing businesses and developing political clout in Miami. Cuban Americans have also contributed to and participated in many areas of American life including academia, business, acting, politics, and literature. In the last 15 years, due to the growth of interest around the world for genealogy, Cuban genealogy has become
7076-462: The aggressive acquisition of smaller competitors. In 2000, Bezos borrowed $ 2 billion from banks, as its cash balances dipped to only $ 350 million. In 2002, Bezos led Amazon to launch Amazon Web Services , which compiled data from weather channels and website traffic . In late 2002, rapid spending from Amazon caused it financial distress when revenues stagnated. After the company nearly went bankrupt, he closed distribution centers and laid off 14% of
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#17327801622407192-416: The alleged double purpose of cleaning up Cuban society and poisoning the USA. Those people were labeled "inadmissible" by the US government, and with time, through many negotiations, have been returned to Cuba. Since the mid-1990s, after the implementation of the "Wet feet, dry feet" policy immigration patterns changed. Many Cuban immigrants departed from the southern and western coasts of Cuba and arrived at
7308-601: The approach of detaining every dry foot Cuban who crosses through Texas and began a policy allowing most Cubans to obtain immediate parole. Jorge Ferragut, a Cuban immigrant who founded Casa Cuba, an agency that assists Cuban immigrants arriving in Texas, said in a 2008 article that many Cuban immigrants of the first decade of the 21st century left due to economic instead of political issues. By October 2008 Mexico and Cuba created an agreement to prevent immigration of Cubans through Mexico. In recent years, Puerto Rico has become
7424-529: The banking industry when he became a product manager at Bankers Trust from 1988 to 1990. He then joined D. E. Shaw & Co , a newly created hedge fund with a strong emphasis on mathematical modelling from 1990 until 1994. Bezos became D. E. Shaw's fourth senior vice-president by age 30. In spring 1994, Bezos read that web usage was growing at a rate of 2300% a year and eventually decided to establish an online bookstore . He and his then-wife, MacKenzie Scott , left their jobs at D. E. Shaw and founded Amazon in
7540-399: The case of Elián González , the six-year-old Cuban boy caught in a custody battle between his relatives in Miami and his father in Cuba. The boy's mother died trying to bring him to the United States. On April 22, 2000, immigration enforcement agents took Elián González into custody. González was returned to Cuba to live with his father. On January 12, 2017, President Barack Obama announced
7656-751: The cause of Cuba Libre . After the Spanish–American War , some Cubans returned to their native land, but many chose to stay in the U.S. due to the physical and economic devastation caused by years of fighting on the island. Several other small waves of Cuban emigration to the U.S. occurred in the early 20th century (1900–1959). Most settled in Florida and the northeast U.S. The majority of an estimated 100,000 Cubans arriving in that time period usually came for economic reasons (the Great Depression of 1929, volatile sugar prices and migrant farm labor contracts), but included anti-Batista refugees fleeing
7772-478: The companies targeted by his proposal have placed an increased focus on part-time workers to escape benefit obligations. On October 2, 2018, Bezos announced a company-wide wage increase, which Sanders applauded. The American workers who were being paid the minimum wage had this increased to $ 15 per hour, a decision that was interpreted as support for the Fight for $ 15 movement. In February 2021, Bezos announced that in
7888-468: The earth and see it turned into a huge national park". After graduating from high school in 1982, Bezos attended Princeton University. He initially majored in physics but later switched to electrical engineering and computer science. On 13 September 2018, during a talk at The Economic Club of Washington, D.C. , Bezos revealed that his classmate at Princeton Yasantha Rajakarunanayake who was of Sri Lankan origin, some 30 years ago had defeated him to solve
8004-456: The economic development (in GDP terms) of more than 96 countries around the world. During March 9, Bezos earned $ 230,000 every 60 seconds. The Motley Fool estimated that if Bezos had not sold any of his shares from its original public offering in 1997, his net worth would sit at $ 181 billion in 2018. According to Quartz , his net worth of $ 150 billion in July 2018 was enough to purchase
8120-511: The email address jeff@amazon.com as an outlet for customers to reach out to him and the company. Although he does not respond to the emails, he forwards some of them with a question mark in the subject line to executives, who then attempt to address the issues. Bezos has cited Jeff Immelt of New Enterprise Associates , Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway , Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase , and Bob Iger of The Walt Disney Company as major influences on his leadership style. Bezos first became
8236-408: The emigration of Canary Islanders (they developed the production of sugar in Cuba), and Cuban Spanish is closest to that of the Canary Islands. Canary Islanders were viewed by other Spanish-Cubans as superstitious but also hard-working. Some of Haiti's white population ( French ) migrated to Cuba after the Haitian War of Independence in the early 19th century. Also, minor but significant ethnic influx
8352-452: The entire stock markets of Nigeria , Hungary , Egypt , Luxembourg , and Iran . Following the report by Quartz , Amazon workers in Poland , (Germany), and Spain participated in demonstrations and labor strikes to draw attention to his growing wealth and the lack of compensation, labor rights, and satisfactory working conditions of select Amazon workers. On July 17, 2018, he was designated
8468-593: The first time on November 24, 2017, and he was formally designated the wealthiest person in the world by Forbes on March 6, 2018, with a net worth of $ 112 billion. In March 2018, Bezos dispatched Amit Agarwal, Amazon's global senior vice president, to India with $ 5.5 billion to localize operations throughout the company's supply chain routes. Later in the month, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Amazon and Bezos, specifically, of sales tax avoidance, misusing postal routes , and anti-competitive business practices. Amazon's share price fell by 9% in response to
8584-544: The following year, dropping 66.6% to $ 2.0 billion. He lost $ 500 million the following year, which brought his net worth down to $ 1.5 billion. The following year, his net worth increased by 66.66% to $ 2.5 billion. From 2005 to 2007, he quadrupled his net worth to $ 8.7 billion. After the financial crisis and succeeding economic recession , his net worth would decrease to $ 6.8 billion—a 17.7% drop. His wealth rose by 85.2% in 2010, leaving him with $ 12.6 billion. This percentage increase ascended him to
8700-525: The form of dividends . Bezos uses the term "work–life harmony" instead of the more standard " work–life balance " because he believes that balance implies that you can only have one and not the other. He believes that work and home life are interconnected, informing and calibrating each other. Journalist Walt Mossberg dubbed the idea that someone who cannot tolerate criticism or critique should not do anything new or interesting " The Bezos Principle ". Bezos does not schedule early morning meetings and enforces
8816-504: The fourth largest Hispanic and Latino American group in the United States after Mexican Americans , Stateside Puerto Ricans and Salvadoran Americans . Many metropolitan areas throughout the United States have significant Cuban American populations. Florida (2,000,000 in 2023) has the highest concentration of Cuban Americans in the United States. Over 1,200,000 Cuban-Americans reside in Miami-Dade County , where they are
8932-402: The growth of the Internet would overtake competition from larger book retailers such as Borders and Barnes & Noble . In 1998, Bezos diversified into the online sale of music and video, and by the end of the year he had expanded the company's products to include a variety of other consumer goods . Bezos used the $ 54 million raised during the company's 1997 equity offering to finance
9048-526: The immediate cessation of the wet feet, dry feet policy. The Cuban government agreed to accept the return of Cuban nationals. Beginning with the United States–Cuban Thaw in 2014, anticipation of the end of the policy had led to increased numbers of Cuban immigrants. In the census in 2022 there were 2,435,573 Cuban Americans, and in the 2010 census there were 1,785,547 (both native and foreign born), and represented 3.5% of all Latinos, and 0.58% of
9164-470: The largest Chinatown in Western Hemisphere as most Chinese Cubans left for Florida. The largest populations of Cubans are situated in the following metropolitan areas (Source: Census 2023): The top 25 US communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Cuban ancestry are (all of which are in Florida while the top 22 are in Miami-Dade County ): For total 101 communities, see
9280-490: The largest single ethnic group and constitute a majority of the population in many municipalities. Greater Miami has by far the highest concentration of Cuban Americans of any metropolitan area, with an estimate of 2.000.000 individuals identifying as such. Along with Greater Miami and its surroundings, Tampa (200,621) and Jacksonville (up to 7,000) compose another portion of the Cuban American population in
9396-551: The late 2010s, Bezos reversed his reputation for being reluctant to spend money on non-business-related expenses. His relative lack of philanthropy compared to other billionaires has drawn a negative response from the public since 2016. Bezos has been known to publicly contest claims made in critical articles, as exemplified in 2015 when he sent a memo to employees denouncing a New York Times piece. Day 1: start up Day 2: stasis Day 3: irrelevance Day 4: "excruciating, painful decline" Day 5: death Bezos has stated "it
9512-467: The military dictatorship, which had pro-U.S. diplomatic ties. During the '20s and '30s, emigration from Cuba to U.S. territory, basically comprised workers looking for jobs, mainly in New York and New Jersey. They were classified as labor migrants and workers, much like other immigrants in the area at that time. Thus migrated more than 40,149 in the first decade, encouraged by U.S. immigration facilities at
9628-494: The moon, how about Jeff Bezos pays his workers a living wage?" He later said: "Bezos could play a profound role. If he said today, nobody who is employed at Amazon will receive less than a living wage, it would send a message to every corporation in America." Sanders's efforts elicited a response from Amazon which pointed to the 130,000 jobs it created in 2017 and called the $ 28,446 figure for its median salary "misleading" as it included part-time workers. However, Sanders countered that
9744-536: The name to Amazon after the Amazon River in South America, in part because the name begins with the letter A , which is at the beginning of the alphabet. At the time, website listings were alphabetized, so a name starting with "A" would appear sooner when customers conducted online searches. In addition, he regarded "Amazon," the name of the world's largest river as fitting for what he hoped would become
9860-499: The negative costs associated with business-related pollution . In December 2017, New Shepard successfully flew and landed dummy passengers , amending and pushing its human space travel start date into late 2018. To execute this program, Blue Origin built six of the vehicles to support all phases of testing and operations: no-passenger test flights, flights with test passengers, and commercial-passenger weekly operations. Since 2016, Bezos has spoken more freely about his hopes to colonize
9976-714: The newspaper as a media and technology company by reconstructing its digital media, mobile platforms, and analytics software. After a surge in online readership in 2016, the paper was profitable for the first time since Bezos made the purchase in 2013. Bezos makes personal investments through his venture capital vehicle, Bezos Expeditions. He was one of the first shareholders in Google, when he invested $ 250,000 in 1998. That $ 250,000 investment resulted in 3.3 million shares of Google stock, worth about $ 3.1 billion in 2017. He also invested in Unity Biotechnology ,
10092-648: The office. Throughout his early years of ownership of The Washington Post , Bezos was accused of having a potential conflict of interest with the paper. Bezos and the newspaper's editorial board have dismissed accusations that he unfairly controlled the paper's content, and Bezos maintains that the paper is independent. Bezos' treatment of employees at The Washington Post has also drawn scrutiny. In 2018, more than 400 Washington Post employees wrote an open letter to Bezos criticizing his poor wages and benefits for his employees. The letter demanded "Fair wages; fair benefits for retirement, family leave and health care; and
10208-598: The period of Spanish rule . Since 1820, the Cuban presence was more than 1,000 people. In 1870 the number of Cuban immigrants increased to almost 12,000, of which about 4,500 resided in New York City , about 3,000 in New Orleans and 2,000 in Key West . The causes of these movements were both economic and political, which intensified after 1860, when political factors played the predominant role in emigration, as
10324-560: The person's legal name . The assumption in the Western world is often that the name from birth (or perhaps from baptism or brit milah ) will persist to adulthood in the normal course of affairs—either throughout life or until marriage. Some reasons for changes of a person's name include middle names , diminutive forms, changes relating to parental status (due to one's parents' divorce or adoption by different parents), and gender transition . The French and English-adopted née
10440-400: The previous year. His wealth's rapid growth from 2016 to 2017 sparked a variety of assessments about how much money Bezos earned on a controlled, reduced time scale. On October 10, 2017, he made an estimated $ 6.24 billion in 5 minutes, slightly less than the then annual gross domestic product of Kyrgyzstan . On March 6, 2018, Bezos was designated the wealthiest person in the world , with
10556-461: The reference given. Top 20 U.S. communities with the most residents born in Cuba are (all of which are located within the Miami Florida area): According to the 2023 American Community Survey, there were 1,800,900 immigrants from Cuba in the US, the top counties of residence being: According to the 2017-2021 American Community Survey, there were 1,313,200 immigrants from Cuba in the US,
10672-613: The revolution were those affiliated with former dictator Fulgencio Batista , next were Cuba's professionals. Most Cuban Americans that arrived in the United States initially came from Cuba's educated upper and middle classes centered in Cuba's capital Havana. This middle class arose in the period after the Platt Amendment when Cuba became one of the most successful countries in Latin America. Between December 1960 and October 1962 more than 14,000 Cuban children arrived alone in
10788-537: The role of executive chairman. Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy succeeded Bezos as the CEO and president of Amazon. Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen was born on January 12, 1964, in Albuquerque, New Mexico , as the son of Jacklyn (née Gise) and Ted Jorgensen . At the time of Jeff's birth, his mother was a 17-year-old high-school student and his father was 19. Ted was a Danish American unicyclist born in Chicago to
10904-425: The second half of the 1890s marked the decline of the Cuban immigrant population, as an important part of it returned to the island to fight for independence. The War accentuated Cuban immigrant integration into American society, whose numbers were significant: more than 12,000 people. The population of Cuban Americans has experienced a surge in growth once again with the arrival of the 2021–23 Cuban migration wave to
11020-429: The solar system , and has been selling US$ 1 billion in Amazon stock each year to capitalize Blue Origin in an effort to support this endeavor. In May 2018, Bezos maintained that the primary goal of Blue Origin is to preserve the natural resources of Earth by making the human species multi-planetary . He announced that New Shepard would begin transporting humans into sub-orbital space by November 2018. In July 2018, it
11136-581: The state of Florida. As per 2024, the second state with the highest Cuban American population is Texas , counting a number up to 140,000 individuals identifying as such. About 60,000, and more reside in the Greater Houston area, whereas about 20,000 of them live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Austin, Texas (up to 10,000). Some other thousands are spread out across the state, especially in West Texas . California takes place as
11252-559: The suggestion of his friend, Don Graham . To execute the sale, he established limited liability company Nash Holdings to serve as a holding company through which he would own the newspaper. The sale closed on October 1, 2013, and Nash Holdings took control. In March 2014, Bezos made his first significant change at The Washington Post and lifted the online paywall for subscribers of a number of U.S. local newspapers in Texas , Hawaii, and Minnesota . In January 2016, Bezos set out to reinvent
11368-459: The term z domu (literally meaning "of the house", de domo in Latin ) may be used, with rare exceptions, meaning the same as née . Cuban Americans Cuban Americans ( Spanish : cubanoestadounidenses or cubanoamericanos ) are Americans who immigrated from or are descended from immigrants from Cuba , regardless of racial or ethnic origin. As of 2023, Cuban Americans were
11484-479: The third state with the highest Cuban American population with more than 100, 000 individuals in total, of whom 80,000 live in the Los Angeles area, San Diego area (10,000), Bay Area (up to 15,000) and many others spread out across Northern California and Central Valley, California . As of today, Florida , Texas and California are the three states with the highest concentration of Cuban Americans in
11600-814: The third-richest woman in the world. Bezos retained his interest in The Washington Post and Blue Origin, as well as voting control of the shares received by his ex-wife. In June 2019, Bezos purchased three adjoining apartments overlooking Madison Square Park in Manhattan , including a penthouse , for a combined total of US$ 80 million, making this one of the most expensive real estate purchases within New York City in 2019. Bezos had also purchased three adjoining apartments at 25 Central Park West in Manhattan for $ 7.65 million in 1999; he bought
11716-594: The time and more than 43,400 by the end of the 30s. The Cuban population officially registered in the United States for 1958 was around 125,000 people including descendants. Of these, more than 50,000 remained in the United States after the revolution of 1959. After the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro in 1959, a Cuban exodus began as the new government allied itself with the Soviet Union and began to introduce communism. The first Cubans to come to America after
11832-516: The top counties of residence being: Many Cuban Americans have assimilated themselves into the American culture, which includes Cuban influences. More recently, there has been substantial growth of new Cuban American communities in places like Louisville, Kentucky , the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, Katy, Texas , and Downey, California ; the latter city now has the second-highest percentage of Cubans and Cuban Americans in
11948-449: The transformation of Amazon; he is often referred to as the metonym of the company. Since 2017, he has been portrayed by Kyle Mooney and Steve Carell on Saturday Night Live , usually as an undercutting, domineering figure. His physical appearance increased the public's perception of him as a symbolically dominant figure in business and in popular culture, wherein he has been parodied as an enterprising supervillain . In May 2014,
12064-458: The wake of the decision. Because of his wealth and influence, Bezos has sometimes been described as an oligarch . Birth name#Maiden and married names A birth name is the name given to a person upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname , the given name , or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth register may by that fact alone become
12180-423: The wealthiest person in the world. Bezos would continue to sporadically surpass Gates throughout the month of October 2017 after Amazon's share price fluctuated. His net worth surpassed $ 100 billion for the first time on November 24, 2017, after Amazon's share price increased by more than 2.5%. When the 2017 list was issued, Bezos's net worth was registered at $ 72.8 billion, adding $ 27.6 billion from
12296-550: The wedding, Mike adopted 4-year-old Jeff, whose surname was then legally changed from Jorgensen to Bezos. Jacklyn, her husband, and her son left the area and asked Ted to discontinue contact, to which he agreed. After Mike had received his degree from the University of New Mexico , the family moved to Houston, Texas , so that he could begin working as an engineer for Exxon . Jeff attended River Oaks Elementary School in Houston from fourth to sixth grade. Jeff's maternal grandfather
12412-508: The world's largest online bookstore. He accepted an estimated $ 300,000 from his parents as an investment in Amazon. He warned many early investors that there was a 70% chance that Amazon would fail or go bankrupt. Although Amazon was originally an online bookstore, Bezos had always planned to expand to other products. Three years after Bezos founded Amazon, he took it public with an initial public offering (IPO). In response to critical reports from Fortune and Barron's , Bezos maintained that
12528-635: Was Lawrence Preston Gise, a regional director of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in Albuquerque. Lawrence retired early to his family's ranch near Cotulla, Texas , where his grandson would spend many summers in his youth and which he would later purchase and expand from 25,000 acres (10,117 ha) to 300,000 acres (121,406 ha). Jeff displayed scientific interests and technological proficiency and once rigged an electric alarm to keep his younger half-siblings out of his room. The family moved to Miami, Florida , where Jeff attended Miami Palmetto High School . In high school, he worked at McDonald's as
12644-672: Was announced that Bezos had priced commercial spaceflight tickets from $ 200,000 to $ 300,000 per person. On July 20, 2021, he launched on the NS-16 mission with his half-brother Mark Bezos, Wally Funk , and Oliver Daemen . He launched nine days after Richard Branson launched on board the Virgin Galactic Unity 22 mission. Bezos's suborbital flight lasted over 10 minutes, reaching a peak altitude of 66.5 miles (107.0 km). On August 5, 2013, Bezos announced his purchase of The Washington Post for $ 250 million in cash, at
12760-735: Was another wave of immigration known as the Freedom Flights. In order to provide aid to recently arrived Cuban immigrants, the United States Congress passed the Cuban Adjustment Act in 1966. The Cuban Refugee Program provided more than $ 1.3 billion of direct financial assistance. They also were eligible for public assistance , Medicare , free English courses, scholarships and low-interest college loans . Some banks pioneered loans for exiles who did not have collateral or credit but received help in getting
12876-418: Was characterized as trying to quantify all aspects of running the company, often listing employees on spreadsheets and basing executive decisions on data. To push Amazon forward, Bezos developed the mantra "Get Big Fast", establishing the company's need to scale its operations to produce market dominance. He favored diverting Amazon profits back into the company in lieu of allocating it amongst shareholders in
12992-407: Was detailed by Alan Deutschman, who described him as "talking in lists" and "[enumerating] the criteria, in order of importance, for every decision he has made." Select accounts of his persona have drawn controversy and public attention. Notably, journalist Brad Stone wrote a book that described Bezos as a demanding boss as well as hyper-competitive , and opined that Bezos perhaps "bet the biggest on
13108-549: Was featured in Amazon's Super Bowl commercial . On February 1, 2018, Amazon reported its highest ever profit with quarterly earnings of $ 2 billion. Due to the growth of Alibaba in China, Bezos has often expressed interest in expanding Amazon into India . On July 27, 2017, Bezos momentarily became the world's wealthiest person over Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates when his estimated net worth increased to just over $ 90 billion. His wealth surpassed $ 100 billion for
13224-447: Was not particularly attractive to Cubans prior to the 1960s. It was not until the exodus of the Cuban exiles in 1959 that Miami started to become a preferred destination. Westchester within Miami-Dade County , was the area most densely populated by Cubans and Cuban Americans in the United States, followed by Hialeah in second. Communities like Miami, Tampa and Union City, which Cuban Americans have made their home, have experienced
13340-679: Was recognized as the largest online shopping retailer in the world. In May 2016, Bezos sold slightly more than one million shares of his holdings in the company for $ 671 million, the largest sum he had ever raised from selling some of his Amazon stock. On August 4, 2016, Bezos sold another million of his shares for $ 756.7 million. A year later, Bezos took on 130,000 new employees when he ramped up hiring at company distribution centers. By January 19, 2018, his Amazon stock holdings had appreciated to slightly over $ 109 billion; months later he began to sell stock to raise cash for other enterprises, in particular, Blue Origin . On January 29, 2018, he
13456-501: Was the wealthiest person from 2017 to 2021, according to both the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and Forbes . Bezos was born in Albuquerque and raised in Houston and Miami . He graduated from Princeton University in 1986 with degrees in electrical engineering and computer science . He worked on Wall Street in a variety of related fields from 1986 to early 1994. Bezos founded Amazon in mid-1994 on
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