Inventory Management. About the man who created Amazon.

. About the man who created Amazon.

Jeffrey Preston Bezos was born in New Mexico when his mother was just 17. Jeff never met his biological father. When Jeff was four, his mother married Miguel Bezos, an Exxon engineer from Cuba. The family moved to Miami, Florida, where Jeff attended high school.

From the beginning Bezos was something of a wizkid. He transformed the family garage into a makeshift laboratory where he conducted many experiments including a solar microwave, burglar alarm, infinity cube and countless others. In high school, Bezos fell in love with computers and was valedictorian of his class.

Bezos entered Princeton University to study physics, but soon returned to his first love, computers, and graduated with a degree in computer science and electrical engineering.

He was quickly recruited by several companies after his graduation, and eventually settled on Fitel, a start-up financial telecommunications firm. Bezos rose rapidly to the top, becoming an associate director just nine months after he was hired.

After two years Bezos left Fitel for Bankers Trust Company, where he oversaw the development of a program BTWorld – a software program that allowed the company's customers to check the performance of their pension plans.

It came as no surprise to anyone when Bezos became vice-president at 26, the youngest individual to do so. Soon after, Bezos joined D. E. Shaw & Co. as a hedge fund manager. Again, he quickly rose to the position of senior vice-president, and again at 28 Bezos became the youngest person in the company's history to attain such a high post.

In 1994, Internet commerce (e-commerce) was miniscule. One day in the spring of 1994, Bezos who was already crazy about computers observed that Internet usage was increasing geometrically and more and more people were getting excited about its astounding commercial possibilities. A few inventors were already trying to make use of the new technology. Bezos saw an opportunity for a new sphere of commerce, and immediately began considering the possibilities. The thought foremost in his mind: "What is it that users cannot get easily offline that will sell online?"

There were several congruent factors at play now. Internet usage was growing fast. PCs and laptops were exploding. People were hungry for information online. Payment mechanisms (albeit still with security problems) were falling into place. The government was supportive and wanted the Internet to be a driver of America's new economy as the smokestacks of Detroit declined.