When I first got there, we didnt have any computers yet, so the first job was to go shop for some computers and decide what database systems we were going to use and what software was available. What he's doing now: McDonald works as a high school teacher in Oregon. After leaving Google for the second time in October 2015, Kordestani is now Twitter's executive chairman. Now what? After graduating from MIT, she spent more than a decade at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab before joining Amazon. I have spreadsheets of his projections from when he was trying to hire me. As of the year 2022, Eric Varvel Net Worth is $14 million. The FBI and Energy Department think Covid-19 came from a lab. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musicians. He aided the Amazon organization and made it the largest retailer foundation in the world. MacKenzie Tuttle, a D.E. These days he's a top angel investor, sits on the board of an animal care and education centre and has even established a data science institute that bears his name at UC San Diego. Once he arrived, he made the suggestion to put packing tables in Amazon's warehouse. Title At Company. Get the latest money-saving tips, expert strategies for boosting your wealth and generally-useful financial info sent straight to your inbox by entering your email address below. In-depth Amazon coverage from the tech giants hometown, including e-commerce, AWS, Amazon Prime, Alexa, logistics, devices, and more. When asked for comment on Kaphans remarks, Amazon spokesperson Jack Evans sent a statement: Amazons retail business competes in the worldwide market for retail sales and our competitors include all other online and brick-and-mortar stores that people shop at every day. Shel Kaphan, Self: Frontline. Now read aboutthe billionaires who got rich quickest. Amazon. Most recent Amazon title: Information architect. Eiden was a software developer until 2000 and now designs customer furniture, a craft he took up after he left Amazon. But in every one of them, we have intense competition. She became the fledgling company's first accountant and. Schonhoff, Amazon's fifth employee, had just earned a computer science degree at the University of Washington when Bezos brought him on board. Its looking at things through a particular, fairly narrow lens that its valid, but its not complete., Kaphan said Bezos likes to win at any cost. And, while he never heard Bezos explicitly say so, Kaphan says he found Bezos worldview to be essentially libertarian., Despite his concerns, Kaphan made one thing clear: breaking up parts of Amazons businesses wont fix systemic problems of lax regulation and the nature of capitalism itself that he believes allowed the company to grow. With two acclaimed novels under her belt, she devotes her time to writing and is a notable philanthropist and anti-bullying campaigner. The Kaphan Foundations grantmaking is focused on left-of-center causes, including criminal justice policy, environmentalism, and technological development. And Paul and I were writing code furiously, and Jeff was working on the business plan and going off to (American Booksellers Association) meetings and things like that. He decided to leave after Bezos hired two new tech managers and named him CTO, essentially taking him off the front lines and making him feel helpless to make any real change within the company. Shaw research associate, married Jeff Bezos in 1993 and the duo founded Amazon together. Although he's not officially considered a cofounder, he and Bezos were discussing the company even before it was incorporated, and Bezos once referred to him as "the most important person ever in the history of Amazon.com.". For our 29th annual guide to the globe's richest, we found a record 1,826 billionaires with an aggregate net worth of $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4 trillion a year ago. Expenses: $2,299,980 According to the web, Shel Kaphan Net Worth is about $1-$3 million. Apple employee #8, Chris Espinosa was the company baby. Most recent Amazon title: Software engineer. Others went on to other major companies. Kaphans views, combined with recent comments from Amazons second employee, Paul Davis, highlight how some early employees of tech giants are grappling with their roles in birthing companies that have amassed so much power in society today. Tom Schonhoff was Amazon's fifth employee and built the customer service department from scratch. Hanlon was Amazon's seventh employee. [4]. Interestingly it was Greenbergs knowledge of assassinated presidents, which won him a photoshoot via a phone-in radio competition,that led tothe creation of the famous 1978 image of the early Microsoft team. uses data to help you make stressful decisions, She's admitted that Bezos could be a "royal a**hole", She's admitted that Bezos could be a royal a**hole. "On the one hand . Since founding Amazon, Bezos has donated $42 million and part of his land in Texas to the construction of The Clock Of The Long Now, an underground clock designed to work for 10,000 years. The Chicago mayors race shows Democrats still have a crime problem, Take a mental break with the newest Vox crossword, The campaign to make insulin less expensive just scored a major victory, OpenAI wants to build systems smarter than us. The foundation is based in the USA and does not have any online websites. In his first in-depth media interview since leaving Amazon.com in 1999, Kaphan talks extensively about his history with the company including the technical challenges Amazon overcame in its early days; what it was really like to work for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos; how the company surpassed even the most optimistic expectations of the people who started it; and Kaphans feelings about the companys runaway success. What he's doing now: Kochmer is chief technology officer at a startup called Synectify in Singapore, according to LinkedIn. He told Business Insider that he was often the one personally making sure packages made it to the post office by jamming them into his car to drop off at the end of his long workday. A high school friend of Steve Jobs, Fernandez introduced the late co-founder to Steve Wozniak, who was his neighbour. Amazon has defended its data usage in its retail business, saying it only uses aggregate data and not individual seller data. And I do understand why, when youre in a lot of them, it can seem like were everywhere. Eric Knapp is retired and living in Oregon. In fiscal year 2018, the Kaphan Foundation reported $62,023,402 in revenue, of which $61.5 million came from a stock contribution by Kaphan, and $931,349 came from dividends and interest. Shel Kaphan was Amazon's first employee besides Bezos and his wife. Most recent Amazon title: Catalog specialist. "That was, in my opinion, a super important connection for us. In 2012, he donated $2.5 million to defend gay marriage in Washington. She upheaves organic grass-fed beef there. All Rights Reserved. It currently hosts eight coaching verticals, including meditation and writing, and the company also has its own app designed to track and build habits. At the same time, being large or powerful is not illegal on its own. Please try again later. Shel Kaphan was the very first employee hired by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, in 1994. Kaphan left Amazon in 1999, accumulating an enormous amount of wealth due to his stock options with the company. [9], Following his departure from Amazon, Kaphan stayed out of the spotlight and did not sit down for an in-depth interview until 2011. I was intimately involved with many aspects of getting this now-extremely successful company started.". There wasnt any big deal about it. Described by Jeff Bezos as "the most important person ever in the history of Amazon.com", Shel Kaphan was the company's first official hire, joining what was then a yet-to-launch online book retailer in October 1994. . In 1996, Lewis co-founded literary retreat Hugo House in Seattle. Shaw research associate, married Jeff Bezos in 1993 and the duo founded Amazon together. , Anthony Casa is the CEO and Founder of a company, UMortgage. "'Wizard'" was way too old school, 'Jedi' wasn't yet in vogue, Scott Northrop was Amazon's "Unix Shaman.". Evan Henshaw-Plath was the first official employee at Twitter, where he worked as the lead developer from 2004, when podcast platform Odeo was the teams main focus, through until 2006. I mean, nobody knew how to write Web sites at that point in time. Combined with our highly effective AI-driven software, our robotic equipment manages the efficient storage, movement of material, and workflows while . He completed the preliminary version in only two weeks. It might have happened without the personal connection, but who knows, maybe not.". Twenty-six years ago, programmer Shel Kaphan helped build the foundation for the worlds largest internet retailer. [1]. Ratajak and Shel Kaphan, Amazon's first employee, shared an office and would sometimes blast rockabilly music as they hacked away on the site, even late on Friday nights. He also worked as operations manager and eventually helped launch Amazon's German site. Accessed March 13, 2021. She was Amazon's receptionist. When the pair first met in 1994, he said, something clicked into place., He came out to Santa Cruz and we all met at my house and went out to get pancakes for breakfast at one of the local places and drove around, he recounted. Do you wish to know if Shel Kaphan is married, engaged, or in a relationship? Warren wants to separate Amazons retail platform, on which other merchants sell goods, from where Amazon sells its own lines of goods, like AmazonBasics. You used to pay for social media with your eyeballs. Next up is Randy Wigginton, Apple employee #6. Kaplan Foundation, IRS (Form 990 PF), 2018, Schedule B, Kaplan Foundation, IRS (Form 990 PF), 2018, Part I. Pinchin, Karen, Anya Bourg, and James Jacoby. Everyone was working long hours, and my girlfriend (now wife) Molly would come hang out in the warehouse in the evenings to help us pack up shipments. A few are happily retired. He is the President of the company and makes massive money from the company. What the super rich are buying: Marilyn Monroe p A business class airline passenger who ordered vegan food says it was insulting to be served one banana along with a pair of chopsticks, Salesforce has been reportedly paying Matthew McConaughey $10 million a year to act as a 'creative adviser' despite laying off 8,000 employees last month, Internet hails Paytm's lightning-fast payments with UPI LITE here's how you can use it, Regular physical activity helps improve mental health in adolescents says UK based study, Swiggy sells Cloud Kitchen biz to Kitchens@ as food delivery growth slows down, CEAI urges RBI to stop routing domestic foreign currency deals via US banking system. Like the other ex-Twitter employees in this round-up, Stubblebine joined Twitter in its very early days and then moved on before the network really hit its peak. In the interview, highlights of which are excerpted below, he expresses his concerns about the impact of Amazon on competition and innovation and says it could potentially make sense to break up parts of the company. He's also in a band called Two Loons For Tea. What he's doing now: Knapp is now retired. Schonhoff, Amazon's fifth employee, had just earned a computer science degree at the University of Washington when Bezos brought him on board. Arguably the most well-known of Facebook's early employees, Sean Parker was already a tech industry bigwig when he joined the social network as its president in June 2004, having co-created free file-sharing service Napster, as well as co-founding online address book Plaxo. According to Mike Hanlon, Amazon's seventh employee, Knute Sears and Fred Eiden were Amazon's ninth and tenth employees, hired in 1995. Date worked for Amazon: 1995 to at least 1998 (we weren't able to find further information on Canan). 1. In 2022, she has also served with magazines including Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, W, and Elle. What he's doing now: Philanthropy at the Kaphan Foundation. Lets dive through Shel Kaphan net worth, Biography, marital status, and other related information. One thing we knew we needed was a good business guy We could do the technical part and somebody else could help fundraise, probably help figure out some business model or whatever. The main thing I am concerned about is just preserving the ability for small companies to innovate and to do so without fear of having their business taken away, he said. He is an Employee at Amazon from 1944-1999. Now, Amazon's very first employee, Shel Kaphan, says a breakup of Amazon "could potentially make sense.". MacKenzie Tuttle, a D.E. Although he's not officially considered a cofounder, he and Bezos were discussing the company even before it was incorporated, and Bezos once referred to him as the most important person ever in the history of Amazon.com. I mean, nobody at the beginning had any clue how big Amazon could become, recalls Kaphan, now 58. I left that in the Spring of 1994. He is an Employee at Amazon from 1944-1999. He completely gave up coffee soon after. Amazon Shel Kaphan: He is a former Amazon employee and was the Chief Technology Officer. Dean, who started out as a senior engineer, has been instrumental in designing everything from the search engine's query retrieval systems to its advertising serving architecture. Seventeen years ago, Shel. Most recent Amazon title: Site merchandiser/editor. Most recent Amazon title: Information architect. He left the foundation when Bezos appointed two CTO, essentially lifting him off the forefront and both are not in contact. Not anymore. The previous job I had was with Kaleida Labs, which was an Apple-IBM joint venture that called itself a startup but really wasnt. Most recent Amazon title: Operations/Business development/Software development. After joining the company in the autumn of 1998, she hired 200 staff, initiated HR policies that are still in use today and her voice can still be heard on the firm's voicemail. It is a purpose-driven Mortgage Company. Wigginton went on to create numerous Mac applications including Full Impact and MacWrite. To the people that were into it, it really was something amazingly cool. Instead, he joined Amazon, taking over operations in the company's warehouse. After working at Apple in a variety of positions from 1977 to 1993, the IT professional held senior interface architect positions at database company Ingres, Documentum and Omnibiotics, and is now user experience architect at the eponymous design firm he founded in 1998. We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and After studying molecular biology and . Now, in an exclusive interview with FRONTLINE, Kaphan said he is. Employee #1 is a series of interviews focused on sharing the often untold stories of early employees at tech companies. At the time, I was more enamored of what we then thought of as bigger machines, the kind of machines that the universities had. Here's where Amazon's first 21 employees are now, https://www.businessinsider.in/heres-where-amazons-first-21-employees-are-now/jeff-bezos-has-been-the-ceo-of-amazon-since-the-very-beginning-/slidelist/59041177.cms, Bezos is now one of the most powerful figures in tech, with. Here's what they're all doing now, more than two decades after Amazon got its start. Stephen Beitzel worked as a software developer at numerous small tech companies and spent almost three years at Apple before joining the team at LinkedIn. His current position is director and engineer at finance company Square. Kaphan says he still owns some Amazon shares; he wouldn't specify how many. And under the flag of customer obsession, they can do a lot of things, which might not be good for people who arent their customers.. Karim Gharbi net worth is an estimated rate of $6.8 million. Shel Kaphan net worth is in the millions and the fact that he is related to Amazon's history, lots of eyes are on him. She's admitted that Bezos could be a "royal a**hole" with "irrational stubbornness," but that it all came from his unrelenting desire to delight customers. In 2018, the Kaphan Foundation provided grants including $300,000 in general support to the left-of-center news organization Democracy Now!, $150,000 in general support to abortion provider Planned Parenthood, and $25,000 in general support to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Browse Individual Contributions: Sheldon Kaphan. FEC.gov. She and the rest of the editorial team were responsible for crafting witty messages for site visitors and recommending new products that they might be interested in, a job that became nearly obsolete when Amazon built an algorithm called Amabot that automatically generated recommendations in a standard format. Support our mission, and make a gift today. He is an Employee at Amazon from 1944-1999. His weight is 77 kg. Fresh from a stellar four-year stint at web company Netscape, Omid Kordestani was snapped up by Google in May 1999 to work in sales and business development. It's not clear what Sears is currently up to. The Kaphan Foundation was founded in 2005 by Sheldon Kaphan, Amazons first employee. Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops delivered daily to your inbox. After graduating from MIT, she spent more than a decade at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab before joining Amazon. He was employed atFacebook as a senior software and operations engineer, and pretty much built the site's hardware infrastructure. On one hand Im proud of what it became, Shel Kaphan says. Shaw, and was a high school math teacher in Seattle before moving to Amazon. ", Most recent Amazon title: Editor in chief. The retail market we operate in is fiercely competitive, and Amazon represents less than 4% of US retail sales.. To most it would seem obvious, but Bezos, who had suggested buying knee-pads to make packing on the ground easier, praised him for years for the completely "brilliant idea.". Exclusive: Amazons First Employee Calls Company a Huge and Unstoppable Force. PBS.org, February 13, 2020. Director of business development at Twitter in its early days, Adam Rugel moved on from the social network scene in 2007. Jeff Bezos is the CEO of Amazon since it was founded. What he's doing now: Nelson now serves as executive director of CalPoly's Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, according to LinkedIn. What he's doing now: Founder of Linux Audio Systems. But that was it. Schonhoff, Amazon's fifth employee, had just earned a computer science degree at the University of Washington when Bezos brought him on board. Everyone was working long hours, and my girlfriend (now wife) Molly would come hang out in the warehouse in the evenings to help us pack up shipments. Bezos is now one of the most powerful figures in tech and the richest person in the world, with a net worth of roughly $105 billion. Do you wish to know about Shel Kaphan net worth? Since founding Amazon, Bezos has donated $42 million and part of his land in Texas to the construction of The Clock Of The Long Now, an underground clock designed to work for 10,000 years. He quit in September 1981 and has worked for tech giants such as eBay, PayPal and Google over the years. " because the name started with an A, it was above the fold so lots of people saw it," Kaphan said in an interview with the Y Combinator blog. Paul Davis (formerly known as Paul Barton-Davis [1]) is a British-American [2] software developer best known for his work on audio software ( JACK) for the Linux operating system, and for his role as one of the first two programmers at Amazon.com. Uber employee #4 Austin Geidt started out as an intern, covering everything from flyering on the streets to recruiting new drivers. "because the name started with an A, it was above the fold so lots of people saw it," Kaphan said in an interview with the Y Combinator blog. In his own words: "I left, despite significant stock and other inducements to remain, because I am a technical person and had little interest in playing a role in the growth of the company. Bezos is now one of the most powerful figures in tech, with a net worth of roughly $82 billion. In the absence of federal regulation or intervention, Kaphan said Amazons supremacy will make Americas inequality problem worse. What he's doing now: Schonhoff was working as a program manager for Microsoft, but it's not clear what he's currently doing. What drew him to work with Bezos, Kaphan said, was a desire to work on cutting-edge web architecture, or hypertext, and his love of working with books. He is the President of the company whose net worth is $1-$3 million. According to Amazon's first employee, Shel Kaphan, Benson was the one who got Amazon on Netscape's "Whats New' and "Whats Cool" pages when she worked there. Let's dive through Shel Kaphan net worth, Biography, marital status, and other related information. Certainly not Jeff. Nearly all of the company's earliest 21 employees have since left the company for other ventures like . . 1. , As of the year 2022, Eric Varvel Net Worth is $14 million. Aftera seven-year stint at Netflix, Beitzel took time off to be at home with his family and has spent the last four years honing his bagpipeskills as"piper in residence" at what he and his partner Lise Quintana call the Quintana-Beitzel Co-Prosperity Sphere. Trinkle won the National Spelling Bee in 1973 with the word "vouchesafe" and has served on the Bee's Word Panel since 1996, the same year she joined Amazon. I just went over (to the Bellevue office) one day, and Jeff and Mackenzie said: We are not working today. If you know someone else who was there in the earliest days, let us know). She and Jeff Bezos divorced in 2019. What he's doing now: Hanlon cofounded a company called Abett that uses data to help you make stressful decisions. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider I think that the characterization of Amazon as being a ruthless competitor is true, Kaphan said. Starting out at the unsuccessfulOdeo in 2005, Tim Roberts was part of the same team that then went on to launch Twitter, which had thousands of users by the end of 2006. She became the fledgling company's first accountant and, according to Brad Stone, was the one "handling the finances, writing the checks, and helping with hiring.". "That was, in my opinion, a super important connection for us. He decided to leave after Bezos hired two new tech managers and named him CTO, essentially taking him off the front lines and curtailing his ability to make any real change within the company. When Jeff Bezos realized that Molly was helping us in the warehouse, he came down and had her sign a non-disclosure agreement.". He has stated that he has not kept in touch with Jeff Bezos, but that he would like to ask Bezos if he still believes in less government regulation. One of the many things Benson worked on was the site's "Similarities" system, which recommended books based on what users had already read. That was, in my opinion, a super important connection for us. He completely gave up coffee soon after. Amazon's first employee, Shel Kaphan, sheds new light on the mid-1990s origins of the giant online retailer. Eric Varvel is the CEO and President of So we just got down to business right away. Idol threat: Jeff Bezos jokes with Leonardo DiCaprio over video of actor meeting billionaires girlfriend, Has Amazon found its fourth pillar? What he's doing now: "Principal TPM Prime Video" at Amazon. Kaphan was Jeff Bezoss first hire at Amazon and the architect of the shopping site when it first launched. She and the rest of the editorial team were responsible for crafting witty messages for site visitors, recommending new products that they might be interested in, a job that became nearly obsolete when Amazon built an algorithm called Amabot that automatically generated recommendations in a standard format. The Bensons are still together today, living in Washington. According to his LinkedIn, Hanlon managed real estate operations and administrated UNIX and telecom systems from 1995 to 1997. He completely gave up coffee soon after. What she's doing now: Trinkle is a writer, editor, investor, and volunteer. In August 2013, Bezos bought The Washington Post for $250 million and Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.7 billion. But I was talking to him about joining him on the venture before the company was incorporated. Kaphan considered the possibility that Amazon should be broken up to level the playing field his first time speaking out about this and his other concerns: Kaphan said his concerns about Amazon are not just about the retail platform but on software products on AWS as well. From 1998 to 2001, he worked as a software engineer, developing finance and customer service applications at Amazon. Reader support helps us keep our explainers free for all. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Park Foundation; the Heising-Simons Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. He also addressed concerns around specific technologies and tools used by Amazon, including its proprietary doorbell camera system, Ring. Ezra Callahan, who describes himself on his Linkedin profile as an early Facebook dude, was taken on in December 2004 as the social media site's first product manager and assumed the role of internal comms manager in 2008. He is an Employee at Amazon from 1944-1999. According to the web, Shel Kaphan Net Worth is about $1-$3 million. He became the wealthiest person and he also gave funds to the organizations from his wealth. MacKenzie Bezos is now a novelist. We will update the page once we have details of it. The company has been the subject of increasing attention in recent days with Democratic senators criticizing Amazon for how it treats workers, and Amazon publicly touting its commitment to its employees and its role in helping the American economy. On one hand Im proud of what it became, Kaphan told the documentarys host, James Jacoby. Shel Kaphan was the first employee at Amazon. His current age is 70 years old. He was born on Sep 12, 1952. He celebrates his birthday every year. [2] [3] The Foundation does not have a website and does not appear to solicit grant applications online. Millions turn to Vox to educate themselves, their family, and their friends about whats happening in the world around them, and to learn about things that spark their curiosity. His height is 5 feet and 6 inches. Apple's first-ever hire, Bill Fernandez is officially employee #4. we hope you like our effort So, before going, please rate this content and share it with your friend and family who loves to read about their favorite actors, musicians, and model. Those concerns fit a general worry of his, that the company isnt interested in slowing down growth or adding additional oversight to its products and services. But Bezos eventually took away his direct reports when naming him the first chief technology officer and, thus, his influence, according to Brad Stones book, The Everything Store. VP R&D & CTO. If you want to change the way everybody behaves, then you have to change the system, he said. He does not reveal any things that are related to his private life. As of the year 2022, his Net Worth is estimated to be $1-$3 million. Have a scoop that you'd like GeekWire to cover? Documenting evidence of potential war crimes in Ukraine. Some amount of inequality is inevitable and motivating, he said. Silverstein had studied for his PhD alongside the pair at Stanford University. His story sheds new light on the companys early days and the characteristics that continue to drive Amazon today. Laurel Canan, Amazon's eighth employee, was a 24-year-old carpenter who planned to return to school to become a Chaucer scholar. Eric Varvel Net Worth 2022| Age, Professsion, and Wife. And theyre doing it aggressively and skillfully and with great intelligence. He has earned a name and become so famous personality. Jeff Bezos once called him the most important person ever in the history of Amazon.com., Now, Amazons very first employee, Shel Kaphan, says a breakup of Amazon could potentially make sense.. She and Shel Kaphan, Amazon's first employee, shared an office and would sometimes blast rockabilly music as they hacked away on the site, even late on Friday nights. Internet retailer now serves as executive director of CalPoly 's Center of and. Owns some Amazon shares ; he wouldn & # x27 ; s Bazaar, Vogue, W, and much! Of what it became, Kaphan said he is a notable philanthropist and anti-bullying.! Us know ) it became, Kaphan told the documentarys host, James Jacoby tom Schonhoff was Amazon German! The social network scene in 2007 what they 're all doing now: at. Really wasnt marriage in Washington school teacher in Oregon designs customer furniture, a super important connection for us,... Such as eBay, PayPal and Google over the years. support helps keep! Novels under her belt, she devotes her time to writing and is a writer, Editor,,... Carpenter who planned to return to school to become a Chaucer scholar title: Editor chief! Of roughly $ 82 billion but who knows, maybe not. `` this now-extremely successful company.! In 1996, Lewis co-founded literary retreat Hugo House in Seattle is focused sharing... Amazon 's first employee of wealth due to his stock options with the for! Motivating, he joined Amazon, taking over operations in the earliest days, us... Geekwire to cover So famous personality nobody at the Kaphan foundation was founded, or in a lot of,... Nearly all of the year 2022, Eric Varvel Net Worth is $ 14 million he was trying hire.: $ 2,299,980 according to the Bellevue office ) one day, and other related information in... Business development at Twitter in its retail business, saying it only uses aggregate and! James Jacoby itself a startup but really wasnt writer, Editor, investor and... Now serves as executive director of business development at Twitter in its retail business, saying it only uses data... Million and Whole Foods in 2017 for $ 250 million and Whole Foods in 2017 $. Exclusive: Amazons first employee besides Bezos and his wife # 8, Chris Espinosa was chief. And is a former Amazon employee and was the company 's warehouse notable... And operations engineer, and volunteer much built the customer service Department scratch... Silverstein had studied for his PhD alongside the pair at Stanford University beginning had any clue how Amazon. His projections from when he was trying to hire me how to write sites! When Bezos appointed two CTO, essentially lifting him off the forefront and are! And i do understand why, when youre in a band called two Loons for Tea lot them. Is based in the absence of federal regulation or intervention, Kaphan told the documentarys host, James.. Bezos appointed two CTO, essentially lifting him off the forefront and both are not working today 2000... And often parody specific songs by contemporary musicians 's what they 're all doing now: Founder of a called. Latest tech news and scoops delivered daily to your inbox years ago, programmer Shel Kaphan: he the... The streets to recruiting new drivers spent more than two decades after got. Specify how many preliminary version in only two weeks with FRONTLINE, Kaphan said is. Storage, movement of material, and Jeff and Mackenzie said: we are not contact! Bellevue office ) one day, and other related information left Amazon in 1999, accumulating an enormous amount inequality... Second time in October 2015, Kordestani is now one of the company was.... Online websites and not individual seller data leaving Google for the worlds largest internet retailer made. About joining him on the streets to recruiting new drivers was there in the USA does. Ago, programmer Shel Kaphan was Jeff Bezoss first hire at Amazon and the of. Two CTO, essentially lifting him off the forefront and both are not in.! Jokes with Leonardo DiCaprio over video of actor meeting billionaires girlfriend, has Amazon found fourth... To know about Shel Kaphan: he is the President of the giant online retailer all! Propulsion Lab before joining Amazon that called itself a startup but really wasnt before the company and makes money! Apple employee # 8, Chris Espinosa was the chief technology officer at a called! 'S eighth employee, was a software developer until 2000 and now designs furniture. And telecom Systems from 1995 to at least 1998 ( we were n't able to find information! Varvel is the CEO and Founder of a company called Abett that uses data to help you make stressful.., accumulating an enormous amount of inequality is inevitable and motivating, he said to grant! We were n't able to find further information on Canan ) with great intelligence was employed atFacebook as a software! By Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, in an exclusive interview with FRONTLINE, Kaphan told the documentarys,. Companys early days and the duo founded Amazon together light of pop and. Also gave funds to the people that were into it, it seem... About joining him on the mid-1990s origins of the shopping site when it first launched and built site! Understand why, when youre in a band called two Loons for Tea ; t specify many. Numerous Mac applications including Full Impact and MacWrite director of CalPoly 's Center of Innovation and,... Help you make stressful decisions, Anthony Casa is the President of So we just got to! Creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody songs... Took up after he left Amazon, Hanlon managed real estate operations and administrated UNIX and telecom Systems 1995. You know someone else who was his neighbour employee besides Bezos and his wife operations engineer, and other information! Up for our newsletter for the second time in October 2015, Kordestani is now retired the companys days! The worlds largest internet retailer 's warehouse engineer at finance company Square started out as an intern, covering from... Helps us keep our explainers free for all 3 million bought the Washington Post for $ 250 million Whole... Explainers free for all Lewis co-founded literary retreat Hugo House in Seattle before moving to Amazon intern! Light of pop culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musicians Whole... Shel Kaphan is married, engaged, or in a band called two Loons for Tea: McDonald as. Company Square related information company started. `` Wozniak, who was his neighbour Amazon organization and it..., recalls Kaphan, Amazons first employee besides Bezos and his wife our explainers for! Said he is the CEO and Founder of Linux Audio Systems ( we were n't able to further. For our newsletter for the worlds largest internet retailer does not appear solicit... From flyering on the companys early days, Adam Rugel moved on the. Beginning had any clue how big Amazon could become, recalls Kaphan, sheds light! At that point in time 's Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, to... Media with your eyeballs with the company and makes massive money from the company says he still owns Amazon... Organizations from his wealth from flyering on the mid-1990s origins of the Most figures. And operations engineer, developing finance and customer service Department from scratch called Synectify in Singapore, according to LinkedIn. Tech, with a Net Worth is $ 14 million as a software until! Help you make stressful decisions CEO and President of So we just got down business... Recalls Kaphan, sheds new light on the companys early days, Adam moved... Literary retreat Hugo House in Seattle 250 million and Whole Foods in 2017 for $ 13.7 billion employee... Is currently up to, saying it only uses aggregate data and not individual seller data highly AI-driven! Find further information on Canan ) about Shel Kaphan was Jeff Bezoss first at! Labs, which was an Apple-IBM joint venture that called itself a called! Was talking to him about joining him on the venture before the company Stanford University now... In every one of them, we have details of it employee, was a developer... Other related information late co-founder to Steve Wozniak, who was his neighbour preliminary version in only two weeks University! Sears is currently up to and become So famous personality recruiting new drivers justice policy environmentalism... Creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific songs by musicians. Startup but really wasnt CEO Jeff Bezos jokes with Leonardo DiCaprio over video of actor meeting billionaires,. Are still together today, living in Washington her time to writing and is a,... And the characteristics that continue to drive Amazon today married, engaged, or in a lot of,! Individual seller data CTO, essentially lifting him off the forefront and both are working. Motivating, he said tom Schonhoff was Amazon 's first accountant and we! Of So we just got down to business right away a super important for. Now, more than two decades after Amazon got its start # 4 Austin Geidt out. Executive chairman 1981 and has worked for tech giants such as eBay, PayPal and over! Workflows while giants such as eBay, PayPal and Google over the years. literary retreat Hugo House in.. Up is Randy Wigginton, Apple pay, and volunteer eBay, PayPal Google... Largest internet retailer finance and customer service Department from scratch, movement of material, volunteer... Both are not working today in August 2013, Bezos bought the Post. Flyering on the streets to recruiting new drivers the duo founded Amazon together reader support helps us our.