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My friend Herb (Jellinek) and I were kicking around a lot of ideas to do something on this new platform. A computer industry veteran and former Whole Earth Catalog employee who moved to Seattle from Santa Cruz to take the job in 1994, hes an important character from the regions technology history whose story has never before been told. Now, in an exclusive interview with FRONTLINE, Kaphan said he is concerned about the huge and unstoppable force he says the company has become. Scott has since left the world of business, and is nowa world-renowned gemstones expert. As the company grew,Geidt climbed the ranks and 10 years later she is Head of Operations at the worlds largest taxi company. Date worked for Amazon: 1995 1998, September 2016 Present, First Amazon title: Recruiting and Operations, What he's doing now: "Principal TPM Middle Mile" at Amazon, Lovejoy worked with Bezos at D.E. Scott left in July 1981. One of the many things Benson worked on was the site's "Similarities" system, which recommended books based on what users had already read. Karim Gharbi net worth is an estimated rate of $6.8 million. What she's doing now: Susan Benson served as a board member at the Seattle Town Hall, a nonprofit devoted to arts and education, until 2016. In his first in-depth media interview since leaving Amazon.com in 1999, Kaphan talks extensively about his history with the company including the technical challenges Amazon overcame in its early days; what it was really like to work for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos; how the company surpassed even the most optimistic expectations of the people who started it; and Kaphans feelings about the companys runaway success. Benson joined the company as an engineer. Knute Sears and Fred Eiden were Amazon's ninth and tenth employees. Once he arrived, he made the suggestion to put packing tables in Amazon's warehouse. So we just got down to business right away. Tod Nelson now mentors student entrepreneurs. Interestingly it was Greenbergs knowledge of assassinated presidents, which won him a photoshoot via a phone-in radio competition,that led tothe creation of the famous 1978 image of the early Microsoft team. Meet Amazon.com's first employee: Shel Kaphan. Accessed March 13, 2021. While at Amazon, Kochmer helped develop the browse system for books and worked within the teams that developed the company-wide data infrastructures. Bezos is now one of the most powerful figures in tech and the richest person in the world, with a net worth of roughly $105 billion. Although he's not officially considered a cofounder, he and Bezos were discussing the company even before it was incorporated, and Bezos once referred to him as the most important person ever in the history of Amazon.com. It has also previously said, Amazon only succeeds when sellers succeed and claims to the contrary are wrong. Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes has also called for the breakup of the company he helped form with Mark Zuckerberg. Nearly all of the company's earliest 21 employees have since left the company for other ventures like . Accessed March 13, 2021. As of the year 2022, his Net Worth is estimated to be $1-$3 million. Benson was part of Amazon's editorial staff (employees wrote all the first reviews) and she would eventually win the title of editor in chief. GeekWire Interview: Shel Kaphan, Amazon.com's first employee Part 1 . Reader support helps us keep our explainers free for all. Web Site Copyright 1995-2023 WGBH Educational Foundation. Shel Kaphan Net Worth, Age, Biography, and Other Information. He is an Employee at Amazon from 1944-1999. Nick Strauss did a little bit of everything at Amazon. He left Amazon because his work was reduced from technical to. In 1996, Lewis co-founded literary retreat Hugo House in Seattle. Share 28 Tweet Share Reddit Email. Long before Amazon turned into a multi-billion dollar online retailing powerhouse, and technology giant, it was just a few people working in a converted garage in Bellevue. Shaw research associate, married Jeff Bezos in 1993 and the duo founded Amazon together. He was born on Sep 12, 1952. Most recent Amazon title: Editor, Music and Video. While at Amazon, Kochmer helped develop the browse system for books and worked within the teams that developed the company-wide data infrastructures. Interactive chart of historical net worth (market cap) for Shell (SHEL) over the last 10 years. by John Cook on June 14, 2011. It funds several types of left-of-center institutes and causes such as Groups seeking to overturn theCitizens UnitedSupreme Court decision and abolish the Electoral College, Planned Parenthood, and various environmentalist organizations. There wasnt really much else going on at that time, but there was quite a bit of buzz about the Web, so my friend and I were thinking that we should do something about this, it is a big opportunity. But if you take it too far, you reach like a breaking point where were going to see things potentially get uglier. Employee #1 is a series of interviews focused on sharing the often untold stories of early employees at tech companies. He also worked as operations manager and eventually helped launch Amazon's German site. According to his LinkedIn, Hanlon managed real estate operations and administrated UNIX and telecom systems from 1995 to 1997. Taner Halicioglu was Facebook's first 'real' employee, leaving an engineering role at eBay to join the business in 2004. After graduating from MIT, she spent more than a decade at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab before joining Amazon. The first non-founder executive to join the team, Roberts helped Fitbit to grow into a company fit for its IPO in 2015 , and now works as an adviser to a number of digital health and fitness companies. What he's doing now: Principal TPM Middle Mile at Amazon. What he's doing now: Davis is the founder of Linux Audio Systems, a company that writes open source software for recording audio. Heather Cairns was Google's first ever HR manager. Everyone was working long hours, and my girlfriend (now wife) Molly would come hang out in the warehouse in the evenings to help us pack up shipments. His zodiac sign is Sagittarius. His current age is 70 years old. In 2022, she has also served with magazines including Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, W, and Elle. Rebecca Allen was an early Amazon engineer. First Amazon job title: VP of Research and Development, Most recent Amazon title: Chief technology officer, Although he's not officially considered a cofounder, he and Bezos were discussing the company even before it was incorporated, and Bezos once referred to him as "the most important person ever in the history of Amazon.com.". Kaphan used this wealth to found the Kaphan Foundation in 2005. Aftera seven-year stint at Netflix, Beitzel took time off to be at home with his family and has spent the last four years honing his bagpipeskills as"piper in residence" at what he and his partner Lise Quintana call the Quintana-Beitzel Co-Prosperity Sphere. And why it wasnt stopped sooner. All rights reserved.For reprint rights. According to Amazon's first employee, Shel Kaphan, Benson was the one who got Amazon on Netscape's Whats New' and Whats Cool pages when she worked there. I think that the characterization of Amazon as being a ruthless competitor is true, Kaphan said. [4]. "That was, in my opinion, a super important connection for us. In August 2013, Bezos bought The Washington Post for $250 million. Most recent Amazon title: Site merchandiser/editor. He served for many companies including Lucasfilm, Xerox AODS, and Kaleida Labs previous to joining Amazon. Soft-spoken and reserved, Kaphan is one of the most interesting characters Ive met in my years covering the technology beat in Seattle. Jeff Bezos once called him the most important person ever in the history of Amazon.com., Now, Amazons very first employee, Shel Kaphan, says a breakup of Amazon could potentially make sense.. He left the company in 1998 to go backpacking around the world with his girlfriend, but rejoined Amazon in September 2016 to help build Amazon Transportation Services. Parker has a net worth of $2.7 billion (2.1bn). He completed his bachelors in Mathematics from US Santa Cruz. [7], The Foundation also provided $100,000 in general support to the Electronic Frontier Foundation and $75,000 to Wikipedia. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Like the other ex-Twitter employees in this round-up, Stubblebine joined Twitter in its very early days and then moved on before the network really hit its peak. Michael Scott is officially Apple employee #7. What she's doing now: Trinkle is a writer, editor, investor, and volunteer. Ludwig Kaphan and Gertrude Kaphan welcomed their first child, a beautiful famous ex-wife, into the world on February 12, 1921 in New York. When Jeff Bezos realized that Molly was helping us in the warehouse, he came down and had her sign a non-disclosure agreement.". Shel Kaphan joined Jeff Bezos as the first Amazons first employee in 1994. And I wish it wasnt so, but I had something to do with bringing it into existence; its partly on me., Asked if he favors a breakup of the company, which has been advocated by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and some anti-monopoly activists, Kaphan said, I think theyre now at the scale where that could potentially make sense.. What he's doing now: "Principal TPM Prime Video" at Amazon. After graduating from MIT, she spent more than a decade at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab before joining Amazon, according to LinkedIn. He completely gave up coffee soon after. It didnt seem worth the argument at the time, although I kind of felt like, well, you know, I mean I was there at the beginning. It was an office in a house. Now, Amazon's very first employee, Shel Kaphan, says a breakup of Amazon "could potentially make sense.". Seventeen years ago, Shel. Short Bytes: Shel Kaphan, the first Amazon employee, talked about his initial days at Amazon in an interview with The Macro. He completed his bachelors in Mathematics from US Santa Cruz. Whats New' and Whats Cool pages when she worked there. While at Amazon, Kochmer helped develop the browse system for books and worked within the teams that developed the company-wide data infrastructures. He joined Apple in 1976 when he was a 14-year-old high school student, working part-time at first writing BASIC programmes. Seven yearslater Graves resigned,two months after Kalanick was ousted. He later decided to join him even though he was not sure of what they were doing at first, but it ended up being easy. Cook, John. At the time, I was more enamored of what we then thought of as bigger machines, the kind of machines that the universities had. (The first 10 employees are listed in the order they were hired, though the others are not. Her plan is fueled by an argument that Amazon uses data it collects from other merchants in its marketplace to boost its own brands. At the end of fiscal year 2018, the Foundations assets had a book value of $182,715,004. He told Business Insider in 2017 that he was often the one personally making sure packages made it to the post office by jamming them into his car to drop off at the end of his long workday. According to the web, Shel Kaphan Net Worth is about. Eiden was a software developer until 2000 and now designs customer furniture, a craft he took up after he left Amazon. Google Pay. [8], The Kaphan Foundation was founded and funded by Sheldon Kaphan, the first employee hired by Jeff Bezos when he started Amazon in 1994. One thing I remember from very early on, within the first week or two that I was there, I had rented a house in Wedgwood here in Seattle, and I was commuting over the bridge. He is one , John Delony is a famous bestselling author and anchor of The Dr. John Delony Show. On one hand Im proud of what it became, Shel Kaphan says. She upheaves organic grass-fed beef there. What he's doing now: Benson is now retired. However, Graves remainedon the board of directors until May last year, when the company went public for the first time and had the largest IPO of2019. Jeff was working on it full-time already, and his wife, Mackenzie, was writing checks every once in a while. After the genocide in Rwanda and atrocities in Srebrenica, Bosnia, in the 1990s, the world vowed never again. Then came the conflict in Darfur, Sudan, which began 20 years ago. Kaphan characterizes Bezos as a technological determinist and has called Bezoss political philosophy essentially libertarian. [11], Kaphan has not made major political contributions, though he contributed $2,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) in 2006 and $1,000 to Democrat Darcy Burners campaign for the House of Representatives in 2008. Shaw, and was a high school math teacher in Seattle before moving to Amazon. A high school friend of Steve Jobs, Fernandez introduced the late co-founder to Steve Wozniak, who was his neighbour. After leaving Google for the second time in October 2015, Kordestani is now Twitter's executive chairman. Trinkle won the National Spelling Bee in 1973 with the word vouchesafe and has served on the Bee's Word Panel since 1996, the same year she joined Amazon. What he's doing now: Hanlon cofounded a company called Abett that uses data to help you make stressful decisions. Browse Individual Contributions: Sheldon Kaphan. FEC.gov. According to his LinkedIn, Hanlon managed real estate operations and administrated UNIX and systems... Ever HR manager 1999 and is nowa world-renowned gemstones expert 's first ever HR manager first. Steve Jobs, Fernandez introduced the late co-founder to Steve Wozniak, who was neighbour! My friend Herb ( Jellinek ) and I were kicking around a lot of ideas to do something this... 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