Jeff Bezos’ mother, first to invest in Amazon, dies at 78. Who was Jackie Bezos?

The mother of Jeff Bezos, the tech entrepreneur who founded Amazon and Blue Origin, has died at the age of 78.

Born in 1946, Jacklyn Gise Bezos “died peacefully in her Miami home” on Thursday, the Bezos family foundation said.

She is survived by her husband Mike, her children Jeff, Christina and Mark, as well as 11 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Who was Jackie Bezos? How did she die?

Let’s take a look:

Who was Jackie Bezos?

Jacklyn Gise Bezos, mother of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, died after a five-year battle with Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder.

Together with her husband Miguel, Jacklyn was the first to put money into Amazon.

In 1995, they wrote two cheques amounting to $245,573 to support the new company, which Jeff Bezos had cautioned might not succeed. It did, and their early backing, along with later share purchases, helped build a fortune that was estimated at around $30 billion in 2018.

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The billionaire shared a tribute on Instagram on Thursday after the Bezos Family Foundation announced she had passed away at her home in Miami. Two years ago, Bezos had moved to Florida to be closer to her.

“After a long fight with Lewy Body Dementia, she passed away today, surrounded by so many of us who loved her - her kids, grandkids, and my dad,” Bezos wrote in his post. “I know she felt our love in those final moments. We were all so lucky to be in her life. I hold her safe in my heart forever.”

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According to the foundation, she was diagnosed in 2020. Lewy body dementia, the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease, affects thinking, memory and movement, as per Mayo Clinic.

Jackie was born in Washington, D.C., and later moved with her family to Albuquerque, New Mexico. She became a mother at 17 when Jeff was born.

“Her adulthood started a little bit early when she became my mom at the tender age of 17. That couldn’t have been easy, but she made it all work,” Bezos said.

“She pounced on the job of loving me with ferocity, brought my amazing dad onto the team a few years later, and then added my sister and brother to her list of people to love, guard, and nourish. For the rest of her life, that list of people to love never stopped growing. She always gave so much more than she ever asked for.”

After finishing school, Jackie worked at a bank and took evening classes, often bringing Jeff along.

“I would show up with an infant and two duffel bags,” she recalled in a 2019 commencement address at Cambridge College. “One full of my textbooks and the other full of diapers, cloth diapers, bottles… and the second duffel bag would have items that might keep Jeff interested for a few minutes.”

It was while working at the bank that she met Miguel Bezos. They married in April 1968. The foundation said she “poured her heart” into bringing up her children.

“She made countless trips to Radio Shack for Jeff, spent numerous hours supervising cheerleading practices with Christina, and hauled drums in the back of the family station wagon for Mark. She dedicated her life to her family and poured her heart into raising her children with compassion, patience, and wisdom,” the statement said.

At 45, she went back to university, earning a psychology degree with high honours from Saint Elizabeth University. Her love for learning guided her work with the Bezos Family Foundation, which she started in 2000 with her husband and children.