Miguel Ángel "Mike"[1] Bezos Pérez (born (1945-09-29)September 29, 1945) is a Cuban-American billionaire and philanthropist who provided the initial investment to launch Amazon.com. He is a co-founder of the Bezos Family Foundation.
Miguel Ángel Bezos was born in 1945 or 1946[2][3] in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba and was brought up with his brother and sister. His father owned a lumber mill and his mother was a part-time shopkeeper, selling fabric and infant clothing. His parents were supporters of Fidel Castro until Castro shifted his political stance towards Marxism–Leninism, seizing the family's lumber business. Bezos' family applied for Miguel to get a refugee visa from the United States.[2] The application was successful and he departed Havana Airport for Miami on July 21,[2] 1962, aged sixteen.[3]
Bezos graduated from high school at the age of 17 and briefly relocated to Washington, D.C. He was awarded a funded scholarship at the University of Albuquerque in New Mexico, he initially majored in Mechanical Engineering, but he switched his major and graduated with a degree in Computer Science.[2] While studying, he met Jackie Gise at night school, later marrying her.[4] Gise was the mother of Jeff Bezos whom Miguel later adopted, with the approval of Ted Jorgensen, Jeff's biological father.[5] Miguel Bezos graduated university in the fall of 1968, and took a job at Exxon,[2] in Houston, Texas.[4] In Houston, Jackie and Miguel had two more children, a daughter Christina and a son Mark Bezos.[6] Bezos remained working for Exxon for 32 years.[3]
In 1995, Jacklyn and Miguel gave Jeff a loan of US$245,573 to start Amazon.com,[7] leaving them both with 6% equity.[8] Bezos and his wife Jackie are co-founders of,[2] and major donors to, the Bezos Family Foundation.[9] Through the foundation, they donated $710.5 million to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.[10] They have relocated from Texas to Florida.[4]
