Jeff Bezos’ old house where he founded Amazon is on sale for $2.28 million – and includes the garage where it all started.
The Bellevue property, close to Lake Washington, was the birthplace of the now $1.61 trillion-dollar company that made Bezos the richest man in the world at one point.
Bezos brewed the beginnings of the business in the property’s garage in 1994 before moving its operations to a small office in Sodo.
Aged around 30, he rented the home which was then worth $135,000, and lived there with his then-wife MacKenzie Scott.
The home has been relisted several times on Zillow since Bezos moved out, and it was ‘beautifully rebuilt’ in 2001, according to sellers Lin Shen and Mi Na Zhang from Sea to Sky Realty.
Jeff Bezos ‘ old house where he founded Amazon is on sale for $2.28 million – and it has three bedrooms, a maple kitchen and a hot tub in the backyard
The Bellevue property, close to Lake Washington, was the birthplace of the now $1.61 trillion-dollar company that made Bezos the richest man in the world at one point
Aged around 30 at the time, he rented the the home which was then worth $135,000, and lived there with his then-wife MacKenzie Scott
Zillow describes the interior as boasting an ‘enormous great room’ and a ‘fabulous granite and maple kitchen’ with ‘natural light from skylights creating a bright and inviting atmosphere.’
It comes complete with a ‘fully fenced backyard featuring a big party deck and a hot tub for the ultimate in relaxation and entertainment’.
The bungalow, with pale wood flooring and matching wooden décor on the ceilings and fittings, last hit the market in February 2018 at a price of nearly $1.5 million.
Bezos married Scott in 1993 and left his job as a vice president of a New York investment firm, before moving into what was then a one-bedroom rented home just over the lake from Seattle.
The Everything Store, a book that documents the history of Amazon, says the company was based at the garage for a few months before Bezos was able to expand.
In November, Bezos, now 60, gave his Instagram followers a glimpse into the garage where it all started while announcing that he and his fiancée Lauren Sánchez were moving out of the Seattle area to Miami.
The brief video shows Bezos’ desk in the cramped space, with an extension cord running from inside the home to a fax machine, due to the lack of adequate outlets in the space.
When Bezos rented the property it had one bedroom. Since the renovation it now has three
The home is a bungalow, with pale wood flooring and matching wooden décor on the ceilings and fittings
The kitchen comes complete with an island, bar stools, double fridge and dining table
Bezos’ old home underwent a huge renovation in 2001, making it much bigger
A bathroom in Jeff Bezos’ 1994 home, where he conceived of Amazon from the garage
‘It doesn’t take long to tour the offices of Amazon.com, Inc,’ the young CEO, who was then 30, said in the video. (The couple pictured in 2018)
The small garage had space for one other desk (above) and assorted office equipment
The brief video show an extension cord running from inside the home to a fax machine, due to the lack of adequate outlets in the space
Bezos previously shared in the post a video of himself in Amazon’s first ‘office’ in Seattle, where he founded the e-commerce company out of his garage in 1994
‘It doesn’t take long to tour the offices of Amazon.com, Inc,’ the young CEO, who was then 30, said in the video.
Bezos wrote in the post that the video was filmed by his adoptive father Miguel, who married his mother Jackie when Bezos was a young child. Both parents are now in their late 70s.
‘My parents have always been my biggest supporters. They recently moved back to Miami, the place we lived when I was younger,’ wrote Bezos.
‘I want to be close to my parents, and Lauren and I love Miami,’ he said, referring to his fiancée Lauren Sánchez.
Also, Blue Origin’s operations are increasingly shifting to Cape Canaveral. For all that, I’m planning to return to Miami, leaving the Pacific Northwest.’
Bezos, who quit his job on Wall Street to found Amazon, selected the Seattle area to found the company the company specifically due to its abundance of technical talent, as the headquarters of Microsoft.
Amazon’s rapid growth transformed Seattle’s South Lake Union district, replacing warehouses and parking lots with offices towers, highly paid tech workers and expensive eateries. The growth contributed to an economic boom and rising rents.
The technology mogul now lives in a $79 million mansion in Florida’s ‘Billionaire Bunker’.
Bezos, pictured with fiancée Lauren Sanchez, snapped a second home in Indian Creek Village months after buying a $68 million property in the area
Jeff Bezos has purchased a $79 million Florida mansion in the exclusive Indian Creek Village
Jeff Bezos has purchased a $79 million Florida mansion in the exclusive Indian Creek Village
Bezos bought the seven-bedroom property in the exclusive Indian Creek Village near Miami, which counts Ivanka Trump and Tom Brady among its residents.
The 11-bathroom home is set across 19,064 sq. ft and boasts sweeping views across Biscayne Bay.
The property was built in 2000 and previously belonged to steel magnate Leroy Schecter, who sold last sold it in 2014 for $28 million.
Bezos has been expanding his property portfolio since his engagement to Lauren Sanchez earlier in 2023.
His latest acquisition comes just months after he splashed $68 million on a neighboring property in the same gated island community.
The three-bedroom home was built in 1965 and is set in two acres of land.
It was previously owned by a company with ties to Panama called MTM Star International, which obtained it for $1.4 million in 1982.
The property features a similarly coveted waterfront location and access to the island’s private golf course.
The waterfront property boasts a library, as well as a pool, wine cellar and high security doors
Bezos’ new home is located within the private gated community of Indian Creek Village, an island enclave for the rich and powerful protected by its own police force
Bezos’ new home is located within the private gated community of Indian Creek Village, an island enclave for the rich and powerful protected by its own police force
The enclave has become a hot spot for the rich and powerful, who are attracted by its plush homes and enhanced security.
The island is only accessible by a single, guarded bridge and is protected by a private police force that patrols the community around-the-clock by foot, sky, and land.
Residents enjoy access to an exclusive country club and private 18 hole golf course while Miami’s South Beach is just eight miles away.
With a median house price of $29.5million and around 40 residents, Indian Creek has been branded ‘the world’s most exclusive municipality’.
The area is known as ‘billionaire’s bunker’ and has previously attracted the likes of Jay-Z and Beyoncé, as well as current residents investor Carl Icahn and Jared Kushner.
Football star Tom Brady and his supermodel wife Gisele Bündchen were also building an ‘eco-mansion’ in the community prior to their split.
A source close to the third richest man in the world also indicated to Bloomberg that his purchases in the area may not end yet.
Bezos’ latest buys add to an impressive portfolio worth almost $600 million spread across New York, Washington D.C., Beverly Hills and West Texas among others.
In 2022, Bezos, whose fortune is around $160 billion, added a private Hawaii estate that spans 14 acres and is surrounded by dormant lava fields to his collection.
Bezos’ new purchase neighbors the $68 million three bedroom home he bought earlier this year
The property is located in the so-called ‘billionaire bunker’ and is known as an enclave for the wealthy and well-connected
Bezos purchased a $78million secluded Hawaiian estate surrounded by luscious greenery, palm trees, and a marine fishing reserve
Bezos purchased several apartments along New York’s Fifth Avenue to create a mega mansion for the tune of $120million
The three-building estate, situated on the picturesque La Perouse Bay on Valley Isle in Maui, Hawaii, set the ex-Amazon head back an estimated $78million.
The year before he added a plush Manhattan apartment to the string of properties he already owned on the high-end Fifth Avenue in New York City.
The billionaire businessman bought up five properties over the course of three years to form a de facto mega mansion.
While in 2016, Bezos dropped a cool $23million on a former textile museum in the exclusive Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, DC.
He also snapped up a $5 million property across the street which many speculated was for privacy reasons since it had a direct line of sight into the former museum property.
In addition to his homes, Bezos owns the world’s most expensive superyacht.
The $500 million Koru is where he popped the question to fiancée Sanchez, 53.
At 417 feet long and 230feet tall, Koru is one of the world’s largest sailing yachts and boasts its own helipad.