Jeff Bezos's Biological Father Didn't Know He Was The Billionaire Founder Of Amazon Until 47 Years After Giving Him Up For Adoption — He Died Without Ever Speaking To His Son

Jeff Bezos is one of the world's richest men, the founder of Amazon.com Inc. and a household name. 

But behind his public persona, there is a lesser-known story involving a biological connection that went unacknowledged for the majority of his life. Bezos never knew his biological father, an unassuming Arizona bike shop owner named Ted Jorgensen. 

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For most of his life, Jorgensen had no inkling that Bezos was his son. Their paths diverged when Bezos was just 1 year old when his mother, Jackie, left with him. Jorgensen, 18 at the time, had briefly been married to Jackie.

Jorgensen grew up in a small town in Arizona. He was a talented athlete and excelled in unicycle hockey. He also had a passion for bicycles and opened a bike shop in Glendale, Arizona. Jorgensen was said to be a kind and generous man, and he was well-liked by his customers and friends.

Bezos was raised by his teen mother and her second husband, Miguel Bezos. Miguel was a Cuban immigrant who came to the United States with nothing. He worked hard to build a successful life for himself and his family. Jeff has said that Miguel was a great father to him and that he learned a lot from him. He and Jackie even loaned him the money necessary to launch Amazon.

In a 1999 interview, Jeff Bezos stated that he had "never met" his biological father. He later acknowledged that he had spent the first year of his life living with Jorgensen.

In 2012, Brad Stone, author of "The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and Amazon," tracked down Jorgensen to a small bike repair shop in Arizona. Jorgensen was oblivious to his son's meteoric rise in the business world and did not know his connection to the billionaire.

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The revelation of his son's identity was a major shock to Jorgensen, who had spent decades wondering about Bezos's life and well-being. Jorgensen's eyes reportedly brimmed with tears and disbelief when he saw photographs of his son. He openly expressed his remorse for not being the father and husband he wished he could have been. According to Stone's book, he said, "I wasn't a good father or a good husband." 

At the time, Jorgensen said he planned to reestablish contact with the Bezos family. He explained Bezos was his only child and hadn't seen him since he was in diapers. Despite Bezos being one of the richest men in the world, he stressed that he desired nothing more than recognition from his son, acknowledging their father-son relationship.

Months after Stone established the connection, Jorgensen, speaking to MailOnline, acknowledged that he had to abandon the hope that Bezos would express any willingness to embrace his desire for a reconnection. He said, "I don't think he will come to me now. I haven't heard a word from him or had any sign that he wants to connect with me. I hoped with the publicity it might happen but I can't blame him. I guess I wasn't a very good father."

Despite Jorgensen's public pleas to connect and Bezos's reported attempt to reach out through a letter, the long-anticipated meeting between father and son never transpired. Jorgensen died in 2015 at age 70, carrying the heavy burden of never having spoken to his son.

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