“They weren’t allowed to enter the airport with me, so they just left me. I came in, I did the check-inand I left. I landed in Miami, alone“he recalled Miguel Bezos about his farewell to the family in Havana.
The Bezos family, from Santiago de Cubawould expand his horizon with Miguel -already converted to Mike-, who found his way until he met Jackiemother of a little boy named Jeffrey.
The difficult life of Miguel Bezos, Jeff’s father
In Cuba it was carried out, between 1960 and 1962the Operation Peter Panthrough which removed 14,048 children from the island where Fidel Castro and the July 26 Movement had overthrown Fulgencio Batista. Socialism predominated on the island, so many families who did not agree with that line of thinking sought another future for their children.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States, the Catholic Church in Miami and some exiles facilitated the visa process, and although it seemed that the children would soon be seen with their families, the Cold War and the Missile Crisis made the task impossible.
Miguel spent three weeks in the Matecumbe Campfrom where he moved, to his surprise, towards Wilmington, Delaware, with a scholarship to a high school. In a situation of constant alert, the young man decided, after years of hard work, that it would be best to continue studying. He traveled with another scholarship for Cuban refugees, to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Meanwhile, Bezos’ family supported the revolutionaries led by Castro. “The vast majority wanted to get rid of Batista and reestablish a government through elections”Miguel explained. However, the change was not positive, since the government nationalized foreign companies and expropriated the owners of local ones, such as the grandparents’ sawmill. “I was in the office with him when The army arrived with the documents that said they would take over the business“he mentioned.
After working and living with two cousins in Washington DC, Miguel He returned to study at the University of Albuquerque. There he studied mechanical engineering, but seeing that it would take him an extra year to finish, he opted to complete a degree in Computer Sciencewhich ended to obtain employment. In the middle, he met and fell in love with Jackiewho lived with his son Jeffrey.
For 1968started working on Exxon in Houston, Texas. “We soon had two other boys to complete the family and we start our nomadic life. With Exxon we move from one place to another,” explained Miguel, who He spent 32 years in the same company.
The day Jeff Bezos asked his father for money to create Amazon
In 1994, his son Jeffrey, already adopted and named a Bezos, told him: “I’m thinking about opening an online bookstore, and I need a little money.” Miguel’s oldest son had a good job on Wall Street, so his father asked him why he did it and, of course, what the Internet was.
This is how Jeffrey Bezos’ parents became investors in an early company called Amazon. In 1995 Mike bought 582,528 shares and Jackie 847,716 shares, a decision that gave them a 12,000,000% performanceapproximately.
Mike Bezos never returned to Cubaalthough he always maintained his pride in being Cuban. Together with Jackie, he directs from 2000 the Bezos Family Foundationwhich seeks to help children and young people with difficult lives in terms of education.
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
