‘I Wasn’t a Good Father’: Jeff Bezos’ Biological Father Learned He Was a Massive Billionaire In a Mind-Blowing Way But Blamed His Mother for Estrangement
Hollywood is not the only place where extraordinary stories play out. It seems that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, one of the world’s wealthiest individuals with a net worth of over 246 billion, has had a life that is worthy of a motion picture. From how his then-teen mother took him as a baby to night school with her as she obtained her diploma to starting her business and to how his own father found out about his successful life, Bezos has quite a story to tell.
Bezos’ biological father, Ted Jorgensen, lived most of his life unaware of his son’s riches and the fact that he owned the world’s largest online retailer. One reason why he didn’t know was that he had lost contact with his son decades after he separated from Jeff Bezos’ mother, Jacklyn (Gise), and she remarried to Cuban immigrant Miguel Bezos — who gave him his last name.
According to Unilad, Jorgensen only discovered the truth in 2012, when Bloomberg Businessweek reporter Brad Stone tracked him down while doing research for his book, “The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and Amazon.”
At the time, Jorgensen was 69 years old and completely clueless about the life his son had built. When the writer told him that his son was Jeff Bezos, one of the most successful businessmen in history, the native Chicagoan did not initially recognize the name.
However, once Stone showed him photos of Bezos, everything snapped, and with that came a flood of regret, Benzinga reported.
“I wasn’t a good father or a good husband,” Jorgensen admitted, reflecting on his past.
His marriage to Jacklyn, whom he married as a teenager in 1963, ended shortly after their son’s birth. By the time Jeff was still an infant, Jorgensen had left the family, leaving Jacklyn to raise her son as a single mother.
Despite challenges, Jacklyn took steps to secure her son’s future. She worked as a secretary by day and attended night school to build stability for herself and Jeff. In 1968, she married Cuban immigrant Miguel Bezos, who adopted Jeff and became a key figure in his life. Miguel’s support and guidance were instrumental in laying the foundation for Jeff’s ambitious goals.
Jeff rarely thought about Jorgensen, his biological father, except when medical forms required family medical history. Miguel stepped up in ways that deeply shaped Jeff’s upbringing.
In 1995, Jacklyn and Miguel demonstrated their belief in Jeff’s vision for Amazon by investing $250,000 in the startup — a bold move with a 70 percent chance of failure. Their unwavering financial and emotional support proved pivotal, enabling the company to grow into the global e-commerce empire it is today. Their faith in Jeff’s potential was critical to his monumental success.
Bezos stands by his adoptive father because he changed his family’s life. He has even highlighted the more senior Bezos’ immigration from Cuba in extolling the resilience of immigrants.
Some on social media reject Bezos’ narrative around his adoptive father and what their example means, with one tweeting in part, “Bezos’s dad built wealth with Exxon then funded Amazon. A strong lineage of destructive privatized tyrannies.”
The younger Bezos’ powerful connection to his stepfather totally contrasts with his link to his birth father. Jorgensen passed away in 2015 without ever having spoken to Bezos.
In the book, he blames Bezos’s mom for that.
“I had a number, but Jeff’s mother asked me not to interfere, so I didn’t want to call,” he told Stone.
According to a family source quoted on Page Six, “He would never talk about it, but I know it was hard for him.”
The friend also said Jorgensen should not be viewed as a villain, offering, “[He] was just a teenager when Jeff was born, he was good and bad, just like anybody else.”