Jeff Bezos

Notable work and positions

The Washington Post - Owner (via Nash Holdings LLC)
Amazon - Founder and Executive Chairman
Blue Origin - Founder

Biography

Jeffrey Preston Bezos (born 1964) is the founder and executive chairman of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post. He graduated from Princeton University in 1986 with a degree in engineering, worked on Wall Street from 1986 to 1994, and founded Amazon in 1994 as an online bookstore that grew into the world's largest e-commerce and cloud computing company. In August 2013, Bezos purchased The Washington Post and other local publications, websites, and real estate from the Graham family for $250 million, transferring ownership to Nash Holdings LLC, his private investment company operated separately from Amazon; the sale closed on October 1, 2013, ending 80 years of Graham family ownership. In 2016, Bezos set out to rebuild the Post's digital media, mobile platforms, and analytics software, and the paper became profitable for the first time under his ownership in 2016 following a surge in online readership. He adopted the slogan 'Democracy Dies in Darkness' in 2017 and backed then-executive editor Marty Baron through the paper's coverage of Donald Trump's first term. In October 2024, Bezos blocked the Post's editorial board from publishing a planned endorsement of Kamala Harris, prompting criticism from former executive editor Marty Baron and the resignations of editor-at-large Robert Kagan and columnist Michele Norris. In early 2026, Bezos ordered the Post to cut about a third of its newsroom workforce as part of a strategic narrowing toward politics and national security coverage. Bezos also founded the aerospace company Blue Origin in 2000 and flew to space aboard its NS-16 mission in 2021.

Career highlights

• Purchased The Washington Post 2013 · Acquired the paper from the Graham family for $250 million through his holding company, Nash Holdings.
• Founded Amazon 1994 · Built it into the world's largest e-commerce and cloud computing company.
• Founded Blue Origin 2000 · An aerospace manufacturer and sub-orbital spaceflight company.