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30 Years Ago, Jackie Bezos Made a Wise Investment

Mother of Jeff Bezos, who put early money into Amazon, dies at 78
Posted Aug 15, 2025 6:59 AM CDT
She Invested in Her Son's Startup, Called Amazon
Jackie Bezos speaks at the Aspen Institute.   (YouTube/Aspen Institute)

Jackie Bezos, the mother of Jeff Bezos who helped launch Amazon with a family investment, has died at age 78 in Miami, reports People. She had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, a progressive neurological disorder, in 2020, according to a statement from the Bezos Family Foundation.

  • The elder Bezos played a notable role in Amazon's earliest days, investing more than $245,000 alongside her husband in 1995, just a year after her son launched the company as an online bookseller, per the New York Times. She even became a part of Amazon's marketing, as Jeff Bezos used her online wish list at a 2000 expo to highlight the then-novel concept of internet shopping.

  • The native of Washington, DC, grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. "Her adulthood started a little bit early when she became my mom at the tender age of 17," Jeff Bezos wrote online. "That couldn't have been easy, but she made it all work. She pounced on the job of loving me with ferocity, brought my amazing dad onto the team a few years later (her second husband, Cuban immigrant Miguel Bezos), and then added my sister and brother to her list of people to love, guard, and nourish."

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