Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has consistently focused on creating value through his businesses. Here is an example which also gives a peek into what riches mean to him:
A few years back when he was the richest person in the world, in an interview the interviewer asked Jeff Bezos the question:
“You are the wealthiest person in the world. Is that a title you really wanted?”.
This was his reply:
“I have never sought that title. I was fine being the second wealthiest person in the world. But if they call me “Inventor Jeff Bezos”, “Entrepreneur Jeff Bezos” or “Father Jeff Bezos”, it would be more meaningful to me.”
In a status-focused world where people do not miss a chance to show off by inflating their real net worth, here is the richest person underplaying it.
He said that actually what he felt was great was that they had created much more value for other people than himself through Amazon in 20 years. According to him, he owned 16% of Amazon which was worth about 1 trillion dollars then. So, his worth was about 160 billion dollars, but Amazon had created about 840 billion dollars of value for other shareholders and that was more significant.
Successful businesses create value for their founders as well as for other stakeholders like shareholders, employees, customers, vendors etc.
-Sanjay Shah
SME Business Coach