Who is Ted Jorgensen: What Happened to Jeff Bezos’ Father?

Ted Jorgensen was the biological father of Jeff Bezos. As the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos is one of the wealthiest people in the world, if not the wealthiest. The media proprietor and investor founded Amazon in mid-1994 on a road trip from New York City to Seattle. Jeff’s company is now the world’s largest online sales company, the largest Internet company by revenue, and the largest provider of virtual assistants and cloud infrastructure services through its Amazon Web Services branch.

Ted Jorgensen: Bio Summary

Who is Ted Jorgensen and is he part of Bezos’ life story? 

Jeff Bezo’s biological father, Ted Jorgensen was born in Chicago on October 10th, 1944. His birth sign is a libra. Ted spent the rest of his life in Glendale, Arizona, after living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He had a brother named Gordon Jorgensen.

Ted Jorgensen was just a regular guy and owner of a bike store named Road Runner Bike Center in Glendale, Arizona. In 1964, Ted tied the knot with Jacklyn Gise, a high school student, and they had Jeffrey. Jacklyn went on to marry Miguel Bezos after they called their marriage a quit, with Miguel formally adopting Jeffrey and changing his name to Bezos. Until a few years before he died in 2015, Jorgensen had no idea he was the father of the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos.

Jorgensen and Jacklyn Gise‘s marriage

Ted Jorgensen met Jacqueline Gise, a high school student in 1960 and the two fell in love. A couple of months later, the two teenagers decided to marry. Jacklyn gave birth to a kid named Jeffery in 1964. Jorgensen was just a teenager (18) when his son Jeff was born.

Per reports, Ted had a habit of drinking excessively, which affected the mother and son. Ted and Jacklyn divorced in 1965 due to their relationship not working out as they expected. The couple were married for two years before things got sour and she left taking their infant son with her.

ALSO, READ; Jacklyn Bezos- Inside the life of Jeff Bezos’ Mother

That’s how they ended up divorcing. Jacklyn moved on and got married to Miguel “Mike” Bezos in 1968, who with Ted’s permission adopted Jeffery afterward. After considerable legal wrangling, Jeffery was given Bezos’ surname. Ted last saw his son Jeffery in person when he was three years old.

Jacklyn and his new family moved to Houston, with Mike working for Exxon, then later to Miami, where Jeff attended Miami Palmetto High School. He then completed his electrical engineering and computer science degree at Princeton University.

ALSO, READ; Jacklyn Bezos- Jeff Bezos’ Mother

There was no Father and Son Reunion for Jeff Bezos and his father

Ted Jorgensen had no touch with his ex-wife or his son after their marriage collapsed. As a result, he had no idea that Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and one of the world’s wealthiest men, was his biological son.

Reporter Brad Stone, author of “The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and Amazon,” tracked Jorgensen down to a small bike repair shop in Glendale, Arizona in 2012. When biographer Brad Stone, was researching a book on Bezos, entered Ted Jorgensen’s bicycle store to meet him, he discovered the truth. Jorgensen admitted to not being a good husband or parent to Jacklyn and Jeffrey.

At the time, Ted Jorgensen admitted: “I didn’t know where he was, if he had a good job or not, or if he was alive or dead.”. When shown photos of Bezos, Jorgensen’s eyes filled with sorrow and disbelief, according to the book. Jeff Bezo’s father, Ted Jorgensen intended to reconnect with his son, whom he said he had stopped communicating with at Jacklyn’s desire. “I wasn’t a good father or a good husband,” said Jorgensen, who said at the time he planned to re-establish contact with the Bezos family.

Ted Jorgensen later said: “I had a number, but Jeff’s mother asked me not to interfere so I didn’t want to call.

“I used to wonder all the time though whatever happened to Jeff. Then I just reached a point where I thought he was long gone. That was the only child I ever had – that makes a difference too. The last time I saw him he was in diapers.” -Ted Jorgensen said.

As his health deteriorated, Jorgensen claimed that all he wanted from his kid was for him to shake his hand and acknowledge Ted as his father.

He insisted: “I just want to see him as my son, just to have him acknowledge that I’m his father and he’s my son.

“Other than that I don’t want anything from him. I don’t want to push my way in or push the other dad out of the way. I’d just like to see him.”

Jeff Bezos, who had only ever known Miguel as his father, did not appear to want to meet with Ted Jorgensen but did allegedly write him a letter.

Ted Jorgensen passed away on March 16, 2015, having failed to meet his biological son in person. Though his bike shop was a much smaller scale than Jeff Bezos’ business endeavors, it was highly regarded by the local community.

What Happened to Jeff Bezos’ Father? How did he die?

Ted Jorgensen died on March 16, 2015, at the age of 71. The reasons behind his death remain unknown till now. He never got a chance to meet his biological son Jeff Bezos. His funeral services were held in Arizona at Phoenix Memorial Park.