Jacklyn Bezos (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Gise, formerly Jorgensen; born December 29, 1946) is an American billionaire and philanthropist who provided the initial investment to launch

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

. She is a co-founder of the Bezos Family Foundation. She is the mother of

Jeff Bezos Jeffrey Preston Bezos ( ;; and Robinson (2010), p. 7. ; born January 12, 1964) is an American businessman best known as the founder, executive chairman, and former president and CEO of Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce and clou ...

and

Mark Bezos Marcus Jim Bezos ( ; born ) is an American space tourist and former advertising executive. He is the half-brother of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, with whom he flew to the edge of space as part of the Blue Origin NS-16 mission on July 20 ...

, and the ex-wife of

Ted Jorgensen Theodore Jorgensen (October 10, 1944 – March 16, 2015) was an American unicycle hockey player, the president of the world's first unicycle hockey club, and a bicycle shop owner-operator. He was the biological father of e‑commerce magnate Jeff ...

Early life

Jacklyn Bezos was born as Jacklyn Gise on December 29, 1946 to Lawrence Preston Gise who worked at

Sandia National Laboratories Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force B ...

. She grew up in

Bernalillo Bernalillo () is a town in and the county seat of Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 8,977 at the 2020 census. Bernalillo is part of the Albuquerque metropolitan area. History Wine Festival In the 1620s, the wine g ...

, New Mexico Brad Stone, (2013). '' The Everything Store''. United States:

Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries, it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emil ...

. and attended high school in

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

. Her second cousin is country singer

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait has sold over 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He holds ...

. In high school, Jacklyn dated unicyclist

. She became pregnant in 1963 when Jorgensen was 18 and she was 16, shortly before they got married in

Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( , ; "Juárez City"), commonly referred to as just Juárez (Lipan language, Lipan: ''Tsé Táhú'ayá''), is the most populous city in the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. It was k ...

, Mexico. They had a second ceremony in the United States on July 19 the same year. Jacklyn gave birth to

on January 12, 1964, two weeks after her 17th birthday. They named the child Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen at birth. Her high school sought to block her from graduating, but later relented, after banning her from socialising with other students. Jacklyn's father paid for Jorgensen's school fees, as Jorgensen struggled financially and drank alcohol problematically. Jacklyn left Jorgensen to live with her parents, filing for divorce in June 1965 when Jeff was seventeen months old. Brad Stone, (2013). '' The Everything Store''. United States:

Adult life

After graduating from high school, Jacklyn worked as a secretary, earning $190 a month, and left her parents' home to rent an apartment, living with Jeff. She worked at day and attended night school in the evenings, taking Jeff to the classes. Jacklyn met Cuban refugee Miguel Bezos at night school, later marrying him. Miguel Bezos, with Jorgensen's support, adopted Jeff. Jacklyn and Miguel Bezos relocated bringing Jeff with them and asked Jorgensen to discontinue contact, to which he agreed, relinquishing custody. The three moved to Houston, Texas. Jacklyn Bezos gave birth to daughter Christina and then son

. Twenty years after starting, Jacklyn graduated from

Saint Elizabeth University Saint Elizabeth University (SEU) (formerly College of Saint Elizabeth, CSE) is a private Catholic university in Morris Township, New Jersey, United States. Portions of the campus are also in Florham Park. SEU offer 25 undergraduate degree prog ...

at the age of 40. In 1995, Jacklyn and Miguel loaned Jeff US$245,573 to start

, giving them both 6% equity. Later they relocated to Florida. Jacklyn and her husband are co-founders of, and major donors to, the Bezos Family Foundation. Through the foundation, they donated $710.5 million to the

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, formerly known as the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and also known as Fred Hutch or The Hutch, is a cancer research institute established in 1975 in Seattle, Washington. History The center grew out ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bezos, Jackie 1946 births American billionaires People from Bernalillo County, New Mexico People from Albuquerque, New Mexico American women philanthropists Bezos family Living people Philanthropists from New Mexico 21st-century American philanthropists Saint Elizabeth University alumni

Early life

Adult life

See also

References