Jackie Bezos, Jeff Bezos' mother and an early Amazon investor, dies at 78
Bezos said on social media that his mother had Lewy body dementia, a neurological disorder.
In 1995, Jackie Bezos and her husband invested just over $245,000 in Amazon, the online bookstore that her son founded in 1994. It grew to become one of the world's most valuable companies, valued today at almost $2.5 trillion.
Jeff Bezos used his mother's online wish list at an expo in New York in 2000 to show how easy it was to order gifts on the website. Her list included a Casio camera and Motorola walkie-talkies.
Jackie Bezos was born in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 29, 1946. She was raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she had her first child, Jeff, at 17.
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'Being pregnant in high school was not popular in Albuquerque in 1964. It was difficult for her,' Jeff Bezos said in 2020 in a congressional hearing. Jackie Bezos' school tried to kick her out at first, but her father negotiated with the principal to allow her to finish high school. She was not allowed to walk on the stage to get her diploma, Jeff Bezos said.
Jackie Bezos then enrolled in night school and got a job at a bank. Jeff Bezos said his mother picked courses with professors who let her bring a baby to class. 'She would show up with two duffel bags — one full of textbooks, and one packed with diapers, bottles and anything that would keep me interested and quiet for a few minutes,' he said.
During that time, she met her second husband, Miguel Bezos, an immigrant from Cuba. They were married for nearly 60 years until her death and had two children, Christina and Mark, in addition to Jeff, whom Miguel adopted.
At 45, she returned to college, receiving a bachelor's degree in psychology from Saint Elizabeth University in New Jersey.
Bezos was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia in 2020, the Bezos Family Foundation said in a statement. She was president of the foundation, which she started with her husband in 2000 to provide educational grants.
She is survived by her husband, her three children, 11 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild, the family foundation said.
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