Jeff Bezos founded e-commerce giant Amazon in 1994 out of his garage in Seattle. He stepped down as CEO to become executive chairman in July 2021. Bezos sold $8.8 billion worth of his Amazon stock in 2021 and also gave some shares away; he now owns a bit less than 10% of the company. Amazon faced criticism from U.S. senators and the general public for its treatment of warehouse workers during the coronavirus pandemic. He and his wife MacKenzie divorced in 2019 after 25 years of marriage and he transferred a quarter of his then-16% Amazon stake to her. Bezos owns The Washington Post and Blue Origin, an aerospace company developing rockets; he briefly flew to space in one in July 2021.
