9 Things You Never Knew About Jeff Bezos, World’s Richest Person

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As a post-grad, Bezos headed to Wall Street. He worked at Fitel, Bankers Trust, and D.E. Shaw before realizing the moneymaking potential of a then-nascent Internet. Of note: Bezos met his wife, MacKenzie, at D.E. Shaw.

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Jeff Bezos is a diehard fan of Star Trek . However, Bezos leveraged his immense power and wealth to badger Viacom CEOs into giving him a speaking cameo. Eventually, they relented; Bezos has a cameo in the most recent film, 2016’s Star Trek Beyond . He’s completely covered in makeup as an alien, and only has two words: “Speak normally.”

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In 2003, Bezos was involved in a helicopter crash. Thankfully, he walked away relatively unharmed—the guy suffered just a few minor head lacerations. However, the crash (rightfully!) scared Bezos away from helicopters for good: He hasn’t ridden in one since.

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It’s fitting for the richest man in the world: Jeff Bezos spends $1.6 million per year on person security guards to protect him and his family. (An aside: According to Chris Pine , he showed up to the Star Trek Beyond set with three limos and nine individual guards.)

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Back in 1998, Bezos invested $250,000 into a little search engine that could: Google. Today, that $250,000 is worth $3.1 billion. Bezos Expeditions, his investment fund, has gone on to put money into Airbnb, Uber, and ZocDoc. And for more on the behemoth search engine, learn the 15 Craziest Facts About Google .

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Deep in a mountain—buried 500 feet under the peak—in Texas, a group of engineers are constructing a clock that will last 10,000 years. The kicker? It ticks only once a century. Bezos has put up the cash for the whole endeavor— and supplied the land.

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And on top of everything else, Bezos looks jacked enough to star in The Fast and the Furious .
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