- Jeff Bezos said his mother, Jacklyn Gise Bezos, died at age 78 on Thursday.
- In an online tribute, Bezos said his mother “always gave so much more than she ever asked for.”
- Jacklyn Bezos had Jeff Bezos when she was 17 and was an early investor in Amazon.
Jacklyn Gise Bezos, the mother of Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos, died on Thursday. She was 78.
Bezos shared the news in a touching tribute on Instagram.
“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,” he wrote of his mom, who was diagnosed in 2020. “I know she felt our love in those final moments. We were also lucky to be in her life. I hold her safe in my heart forever.”
Bezos shared that his mom had him when she was 17, adding, “That couldn’t have been easy, but she made it all work.”
“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,” he continued. “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.”
Bezos previously shared that his mom married Miguel Bezos, a Cuban immigrant, who later adopted him. He said he learned Miguel Bezos wasn’t his biological father when he was 10.
Bezos’ parents were early investors in Amazon. Bloomberg reported in 2018 that Jackie and Mike Bezos invested more than $245,000 in the company in 1995, which could make them worth billions today.
Jackie Bezos was a strong supporter of education; she and Mike started the Bezos Family Foundation in 2000, through which she dedicated her efforts to Vroom and the Bezos Scholars Program.
