World’s richest, Jeff Bezos raises a toast with his Cuban immigrant father

Jeff Bezos shared a sweet clip of he and his father Miguel raising a toast with the iconic national monument in the background on Twitter as he paid tribute to him with the gift.

He said: ‘At the Statue of Liberty, where my dad’s being honoured with a Liberty Star as part of the new museum’s opening. 

‘When he came here from Cuba at 16, not only was he all alone, but he only spoke Spanish. His grit, determination, and optimism are inspiring.’

Bezos is the biological son of Jacklyn and Ted Jorgensen, but the pair split soon after he was born. Jacklyn then remarried with Miguel, who goes by Mike, in 1968. 

Within months of the wedding, Mike legally adopted Bezos, who was then age four, and raised him as if he was his own son.

When asked about his biological father in 1999, Bezos told Wired: ‘The reality, as far as I’m concerned, is that my dad is my natural father. 

‘The only time I ever think about it, genuinely, is when a doctor asks me to fill out a form.’ 

His biological father lost contact with the family, and only discovered the Amazon founder was his son after a reporter writing a biography on Bezos contacted him.

According to Page Six, the pair never reunited before Jorgensen died in 2015.

Shortly after getting married, Mike graduated in math and computer science from University of Albuquerque in New Mexico. He then was offered a job with Exxon, and the family moved to Houston, Texas.

The family moved around with the company, and Bezos eventually went to Princeton where he graduated in 1986.

His supportive parents invested $245,573 in Amazon back in 1995 – despite Bezos warning them it was incredibly risky, reports Bloomberg.

That stake, around 3.4 per cent of the company, could now be worth up to $30billion, although it is not known exactly how much they still own.

Speaking of their investment in the past, Mike said: ‘We were fortunate enough that we have lived overseas and we have saved a few pennies so we were able to be an angel investor.

‘The rest is history.’

Their son is now worth an estimated $131billion – making him the world’s richest man, ahead of Bill Gates in second place with $96.5bn. 

Source: DailyMail