Jeff Bezos Was Born With A Totally Different Name

The name Jeff Bezos has become synonymous with the online empire Amazon, which he created back in 1994. But if circumstances were different, the world might have known Jeff by a completely different name. Originally, he was born as Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen on January 12, 1964. His biological parents were Jacklyn Gise and Ted Jorgensen, who stayed in his son's life for one year after his birth before distancing himself from Gise and Bezos. Jeff's biological parents divorced in 1965, with Jorgensen eventually moving to Tucson, Arizona. There, Jorgensen opened up a bicycle repair shop and settled into Arizona as his new permanent home.

Although Jorgensen wasn't in his son's life, Jeff followed in his father's footsteps in a way by starting his own business — just on a much grander scale. However, the retail mogul credited his stepfather for giving him the lessons he needed to run Amazon. Jeff was raised by his mom and Mike Bezos, whose last name he adopted after Mike married Gise in 1968. But Mike probably couldn't imagine being the father of one of the world's richest men when he came to America in 1962. Mike was only 16 when he immigrated from Cuba, which was held within Fidel Castro's iron grip at the time. He was completely starting from scratch with no family to depend on, and only a limited amount of clothing his mother stitched him for his journey. 

Those resources were enough, however, for Mike to eventually receive a scholarship to the University of Albuquerque, where he graduated with a degree in computer science. It was there that Mike met his future wife Gise, and would later on raise Jeff as his own. On X, formerly known as Twitter, Jeff gushed about his stepfather's accomplishments, and how much he meant to him growing up. "When he came here from Cuba at 16, not only was he all alone, but he only spoke Spanish. His grit, determination, and optimism are inspiring," Jeff said. Given that those same characteristics can be applied to Jeff and Amazon, it looks like the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

Jeff Bezos' relationship with Ted Jorgensen was so estranged that Jorgensen didn't even know about his son's successes. While doing research for his book "The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and Amazon," author Brad Stone discovered Jorgensen's biological connection to Jeff. Stone visited Jorgensen personally to learn more about Jeff's past; but, during the meeting, Jorgensen might have learned more about Jeff than Stone did when discussing the Blue Origin founder. "He asked me if I knew who Jeff Bezos was," Jorgensen told Inside Edition about his meeting with Stone. "I said, 'No, the name kind of sounds familiar but I don't know him.'" 

Jorgensen would try to reconnect with Jeff afterward, but a meeting between the two never happened. On March 15, 2015, Jorgensen died due to medical complications, with all hope of reconciling with his son dying with him. In his last few years alive, Jorgensen expressed tremendous regret for abandoning his son the way that he did. "But at the time, I thought it was for the best," he said.

At the same time, when Jeff was asked about Jorgensen, he didn't seem to share the same desire for reconciliation. "I've never met him. The only time I ever think about it is when a doctor asks me to fill out a form."