Jeff Bezos

Coming from humble beginnings, Jeff Bezos was born in New Mexico, bouncing around and growing up throughout the southern United States, ranging from Texas to Florida. When college rolled around, he enrolled at Princeton University and graduated in 1986 with a degree in computer science and electrical engineering.

For nearly a decade after school, he took on jobs in the telecommunications and banking industry, but after laying out a business plan on a cross-country trip, he struck out on his own in 1994, founding Amazon as an online bookstore. He took the company public in 1997 and eventually broadened its scope, welcoming all sorts of products. Amazon's first decade was a little rocky, but despite some near catastrophes, he founded spectacular success, especially as he broadened the company in the ensuing years with the Amazon Kindle and Amazon Prime Video.

In 2000, Bezos founded the aerospace startup Blue Origin with the goal of introducing commercial spaceflight. It's continually remained a pet project for Bezos over the years, driving innovation. In the 2010s, Bezos started expanding further, purchasing The Washington Post in 2013 as well as investing in a lot of other startup companies ranging from healthcare to aerospace. The success of Amazon has made Bezos a constant contender for the title of wealthiest man in the world as his net worth is estimated to be north of $100 billion.

He's recognized as the first centi-billionaire in history. In early 2019, he and his wife MacKenzie Bezos announced their pending divorce, which seemed linked to the later reveal that the National Enquirer's David Pecker blackmailed Bezos to prevent leaked photos and texts involving a mistress.