When you think of Jeff Bezos, what probably comes to mind is Amazon’s rise to dominance, space tourism with Blue Origin, and headlines about him being the second richest man on Earth. With that kind of wealth and influence, it’s hard for most people to feel sorry for him.
But the truth might be often different. Bezos may live in a world of rockets, mansions, and megayachts, his personal life tells a very different story, one filled with broken relationships, and regret.
His Parents Divorced When He was an Infant
Just 17 months after Bezos was born, his parents, Jacklyn and Ted Jorgensen, divorced. Their teenage romance turned into a shotgun marriage, and soon after, a struggling household.
Jeff Bezos turned a $250,000 loan from his parents into:
• $144.3 billion in personal net worth
• the largest company in American history ($1.56 trillion market cap)
Here are 5 business hacks Jeff used to sculpt Amazon into the empire it is today: pic.twitter.com/rI7hFmuTJW
— Kurtis Hanni (@KurtisHanni) July 5, 2022
“I can assure you that being a pregnant teenager in high school was not cool in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at that time,” Bezos once said.
Ted was barely earning a dollar an hour working in a department store and spent his free time in a unicycle troupe. Family life wasn’t his strong suit either. “I wasn’t a good father or husband,” he admitted in The Everything Store. “It was really all my fault. I don’t blame Jackie at all.”
Eventually, Jacklyn left and moved in with her parents, taking baby Jeff with her, while Ted drifted off to Phoenix to start over.
He Never Met His Biological Father Since His Parent’s Divorce
When Jacklyn remarried in 1968, her new husband Miguel Bezos adopted Jeff. And for a long time, Jeff thought Miguel was his biological father. It wasn’t until he was ten that he learned the truth. On the flip side, Ted didn’t find out that his biological son had become Jeff Bezos until 2012, when a journalist contacted him for a book.
A bike shop owner finds out he’s actually Jeff Bezos’ biological father pic.twitter.com/OcpMgINbzw
— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) February 27, 2025
“A big mistake,” Ted later said about leaving his son’s life. “But at the time, I thought it was the best.”
He added, “I would just like to tell him I used to change his diapers and just shake his hand and tell him he’s really done a good job with his life.” Sadly, that handshake never happened. Ted died the following year.
A Humbling College Experience
As a teenager, Bezos was a certified prodigy, National Merit Scholar, valedictorian, future astronaut-in-the-making. But Princeton University humbled him quickly.
“I went to Princeton specifically to study physics and found out, by the time I got to quantum mechanics … I was doing well, but it was so much work for me,” he told The Guardian. “It was hard, and there were half a dozen people in my class who were so gifted, and their brains were just wired in a different way.”
One particular moment sealed it for him, when a fellow student solved an equation in seconds that had taken him hours. Bezos shifted gears and decided to pursue computer science instead.
A Helicopter Crash and a Close Call
Fast forward to 2003. Bezos found himself in real danger when a helicopter he was flying in crash-landed in a stream in Texas. Strong winds sent the aircraft down—but luckily, everyone on board walked away with only minor injuries.
His assistant at the time, Ann Hiatt, was horrified. “And I just think to myself: ‘I just killed Jeff Bezos,’” she said later. “Because at that point, all of our stock value, all of our investors and shareholders were invested in […] the unique mind that was Jeff.”
As it turns out, Bezos stayed calm during the whole ordeal and helped ensure everyone got out safely.
Bezos and His First Wife Parted Ways After 25 Years
Bezos’ personal life took another hit in 2019 when he and his wife of 25 years, MacKenzie Scott, announced their split. The couple had built Amazon from scratch together, starting in a garage, and shared decades of history.
“After a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends,” they said in a statement.
Despite rumors that Bezos had started seeing Lauren Sanchez while still married, the couple kept things amicable. But the financial hit was massive. MacKenzie walked away with a 4% stake in Amazon worth around $35 billion.
Jeff Bezos and his first wife vs. Bezos and his fiancee: this proves inflation is rising pic.twitter.com/GQB203jQ1E
— Paul Rudnick (@PaulRudnickNY) March 17, 2025
Then came the National Enquirer scandal. Not long after the divorce announcement, Bezos was accused of having an affair, and the tabloid claimed to have texts and photos to prove it. When Bezos launched an investigation, American Media Inc. threatened to release more compromising material unless he backed off.
“Of course I don’t want personal photos published, but I also won’t participate in their well-known practice of blackmail, political favors, political attacks, and corruption,” he wrote in a Medium post. “I prefer to stand up, roll this log over, and see what crawls out.”
Later, it was rumored that the person who leaked the information was Sanchez’s own brother.
He Lost a Close Friend in a Plane Crash
Tragedy struck again in 2021 when Bezos lost one of his close friends, Glen de Vries, in a plane crash, just weeks after the two had flown to space together on a Blue Origin mission.
“Such a tragic loss,” Bezos posted on Instagram. “Warm and full of life, Glen made us laugh and lit up the room.” He added, “Our deepest sympathies are with his partner, Leah, and all his loved ones. The world lost you too soon, Glen.”
The cause of the crash was never fully explained.
A Hacking Scandal
In a bizarre twist, Bezos also believes he was targeted by none other than the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. According to forensic analysts, an encrypted WhatsApp video sent by an account linked to Mohammed bin Salman contained malware that may have extracted data from Bezos’ phone.
It’s beyond vile that Jeff Bezos sent Amazon CEO Andy Jassy to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia with Donald Trump after MBS approved the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. pic.twitter.com/8Z7TFcBn5u
— Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) May 13, 2025
Why target Bezos? Many say it had to do with his ownership of The Washington Post, a paper critical of the Saudi regime.
A Cruise Gone Wrong
Then there was the time in 2014 when Bezos had to be airlifted off a cruise ship due to a sudden kidney stone attack. Ecuadorian Navy helicopters flew him to safety, and he received emergency surgery soon after.
“Galapagos: five stars. Kidney stones: zero stars,” he later joked.
So yes, Jeff Bezos may be worth billions, but life hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing. His story is a reminder that no amount of money can shield you from every twist of fate.
Scroll below to catch some glimpses of Jeff Bezos across different moments in his life.
Jeff Bezos met his now ex-wife MacKenzie Scott in 1992. They were working at a firm in New York City. Bezos interviewed Scott for a job there and they had an instant spark.
Lauren Sanchez’s outfit pick for Trump’s inauguration drew massive backlash.
Wishing his mother Jacklyn Bezos on Mother’s Day, Bezos wrote on his post, “Happy Mother’s Day to my beautiful, incredible mom, and to all the amazing moms in my life. I love you, Mom!❤️.”
