BIOGRAPHY OF JEFF BEZOS Bezos was born Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen on January 12, 1964, in Albuquerque, New Mexico , the son of Jacklyn Gise Jorgensen and Ted Jorgensen. At the time of his birth, his mother was a 17-year-old high school student, and his father was a bike shop owner. After Jacklyn divorced Ted, she married Cuban immigrant Miguel "Mike" Bezos in April 1968. Shortly after the wedding, Mike adopted four-year-old Jorgensen, whose surname was then changed to Bezos. The family moved to Houston, Texas , where Mike worked as an engineer for Exxon after he received a degree from the University of New Mexico . Bezos attended River Oaks Elementary School in Houston from fourth to sixth grade. He graduated from Princeton University in 1986 with degrees in electrical engineering and computer science. He worked on Wall Street in a variety of related fields from 1986 to early