Jeff Bezos

b. 1964 · Founder of Amazon; CEO 1994–2021

Jeffrey Preston Bezos was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico on 12 January 1964 and founded Amazon in mid-1994, running it as chief executive until 5 July 2021, when he became executive chairman. He also founded the spaceflight company Blue Origin in September 2000 and announced his $250m purchase of The Washington Post on 5 August 2013 (the sale closed that October). The “what won’t change” framing is one of his most durable rhetorical habits — he returned to it in print, at shareholder meetings and on stage over more than a decade.

Traced to source

4 quotes we’ve traced to Jeff Bezos

“I very frequently get the question: What's going to change in the next 10 years? I almost never get the question: What's not going to change in the next 10 years?”

Verified

“If you absolutely can't tolerate critics, then don't do anything new or interesting”

Verified

“When the anecdotes and the data disagree, the anecdotes are usually right”

Verified

“Your margin is my opportunity”

Attributed

Not actually Jeff Bezos

Often misattributed to Jeff Bezos

Famous lines widely pinned on Jeff Bezos that we’ve traced to someone else.

“If you seek revenge, you should dig two graves, one for yourself”

actually Anonymous — a Japanese proverb

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