A few are happily retired. In fiscal year 2018, the Kaphan Foundation reported $62,023,402 in revenue, of which $61.5 million came from a stock contribution by Kaphan, and $931,349 came from dividends and interest. And I dont want to see that.. She became the fledgling company's first accountant and, according to Brad Stone, was the one handling the finances, writing the checks, and helping with hiring. Now, in an exclusive interview with FRONTLINE, Kaphan said he is concerned about the huge and unstoppable force he says the company has become. Davis was Amazon's fourth employee, joining before the company launched its website and working with Shel Kaphan to make Bezos' dreams a reality. Kaphan left Amazon in 1999, accumulating an enormous amount of wealth due to his stock options with the company. Amazon's eighth employee, Laurel Canan, gave up coffee when he joined Amazon. I got there in October of 1994, and a month later we hired the second technical guy from the UW, Paul Davis was his name. Schonhoff, Amazon's fifth employee, had just earned a computer science degree at the University of Washington when Bezos brought him on board. Shel Kaphan was hesitant to join Jeff Bezos as Amazon's first employee in 1994. Idol threat: Jeff Bezos jokes with Leonardo DiCaprio over video of actor meeting billionaires girlfriend, Has Amazon found its fourth pillar? He ran the whole customer service department for the first several months, working with Bezos to establish Amazon's famous it's all about the customers attitude. Kaphan played a pivotal role building Amazon's technical infrastructure from the Amazon HQ garage in Bellevue, Washington, near Seattle, which is pictured here. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. by John Cook on June 14, 2011 at 10:43 amAugust 5, 2017 at 10:03 am. Kaphan is not the co-founder but Jeff mentioned him as "the most important person ever in the history of Amazon.com." He completed his bachelors in Mathematics from US Santa Cruz. Knute Sears and Fred Eiden were Amazon's ninth and tenth employees. He is currently pursuing personal interests and still living in Seattle. His story sheds new light on the companys early days and the characteristics that continue to drive Amazon today. Shel Kaphan is Amazon's first ever employee. [6], The Foundation made several grants to environmentalist causes, including $25,000 to Earth Economics, $25,000 to National Parks Conservation, $25,000 to the Rainforest Alliance, $25,000 to the Sugar Pine Foundation, and $100,000 in general support to the controversial National Resources Defense Council. Stephen Beitzel worked as a software developer at numerous small tech companies and spent almost three years at Apple before joining the team at LinkedIn. And the specifics of her parents' occupation are still a mystery. While at Amazon, Kochmer helped develop the browse system for books and worked within the teams that developed the company-wide data infrastructures. He ran the whole customer service department for the first several months, working with Bezos to establish Amazon's famous "it's all about the customers" attitude. She and the rest of the editorial team were responsible for crafting witty messages for site visitors and recommending new products that they might be interested in, a job that became nearly obsolete when Amazon built an algorithm called Amabot that automatically generated recommendations in a standard format. Most recent Amazon title: Information architect. 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. Karim Gharbi net worth is an estimated rate of $6.8 million. Nearly all of the company's earliest 21 employees have since left the company for other ventures like . Once he arrived, he made the suggestion to put packing tables in Amazon's warehouse. Yes, Kaphan answered, theyre doing what the business schools teach people to do. Next up is Randy Wigginton, Apple employee #6. 1. He is an Employee at Amazon from 1944-1999. He left the foundation when Bezos appointed two CTO, essentially lifting him off the forefront and both are not in contact. It is a Left-of-center grantmaking foundation. According to his LinkedIn,Hanlon managed real estate operations and administrated UNIX and telecom systems from 1995 to 1997. , As of the year 2022, Eric Varvel Net Worth is $14 million. The firm's VP of research and development left in 1999 and is now a major philanthropist. Kaphan spoke to FRONTLINE for the upcoming documentary Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos, which airs Feb. 18. Shel Kaphan (Annie Laurie Malarkey Photo/GeekWire) You know the story of Jeff Bezos, the Wall Street computer science guru with the Texas-sized laugh who founded Amazon.com after a cross-country . Web Site Copyright 1995-2023 WGBH Educational Foundation. Whats New' and Whats Cool pages when she worked there. Shel Kaphan is known for Frontline (1983) and Panorama (1953). Evan Henshaw-Plath was the first official employee at Twitter, where he worked as the lead developer from 2004, when podcast platform Odeo was the teams main focus, through until 2006. What he's doing now: Philanthropy at The Kaphan Foundation. She is the famous cowgirl of the 21st century. Kaphans views, combined with recent comments from Amazons second employee, Paul Davis, highlight how some early employees of tech giants are grappling with their roles in birthing companies that have amassed so much power in society today. Most recent Amazon title: Technical program manager. Jonathan Kochmer now works for a nonprofit and plays in a band called Two Loons For Tea. Lemuel Plummer is a , Shervin Mirhashemi Net Worth and Business journey: He is the CEO of the Legends Board of Directors. Those concerns fit a general worry of his, that the company isnt interested in slowing down growth or adding additional oversight to its products and services. He also worked as operations manager and eventually helped launch Amazon's German site. [4]. According to the web, Shel Kaphan Net Worth is about $1-$3 million. [8], The Kaphan Foundation was founded and funded by Sheldon Kaphan, the first employee hired by Jeff Bezos when he started Amazon in 1994. He also did stealth online promotion and vendor negotiation. He is regarded as the first employee at Amazon. At the time, I was more enamored of what we then thought of as bigger machines, the kind of machines that the universities had. He and his wife, Molly, run the Hanlon Foundation. The broken Twitter everyone warned us about is finally here. Organization Name. I was intimately involved with many aspects of getting this now-extremely successful company started.". For our 29th annual guide to the globe's richest, we found a record 1,826 billionaires with an aggregate net worth of $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4 trillion a year ago. Please consider making a one-time contribution to Vox today. Sorry, something went wrong. He does not reveal any things that are related to his private life. Start Date. Paul Davis was hired by Jeff Bezos in the autumn of 1994 back when the company was headquartered in the Bezos' garage in Bellevue. Phone numbers were never meant to protect or identify us, but we use them to do that all the time. Oct 1994. One of the many things Benson worked on was the site's Similarities system, which recommended books based on what users had already read. Eiden was a software developer until2000 andnow designs custom furniture, a craft he took up after he left Amazon. 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. Accessed March 13, 2021. In August 2013, Bezos bought The Washington Post for $250 million and Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.7 billion. Inhis own words: "I left, despite significant stock and other inducements to remain, because I am a technical person and had little interest in playing a role in the growth of the company. Seventeen years ago, Shel Kaphan was No. So we just got down to business right away. According to Forbes, , Elizabeth Poett Net Worth 2022| Age, Hat, Parents, and The Ranch Table, Shel Kaphan Net Worth 2022|Age, Height, Amazon, and Foundation, Eric Varvel Net Worth 2022| Age, Professsion, and Wife, Lemuel Plummer Net Worth 2022|Age, Profession, and Wife, Shervin Mirhashemi Net Worth 2022| Age, Salary, career, wife, and kids, John Delony Net Worth 2022| Age, Podcast, Wikipedia, and Wife, Billy Carson Net Worth 2022| Age, Wiki, and Wife, Alfred Nickson Net Worth 2022| Age, Company, and Wife, Dolf De Roos Net Worth 2022| Age, Bio, Books, and Real Estate book, Anthony Casa Net Worth 2022| Age, Wikipedia, UMortgage, and Wife, Anthony Mangun Net Worth 2022: Age, Church, Wife, and Sermons, Emjay Johnson Net Worth 2022| Age, Height, Nude, and Girlfriend, Lily Aerin Savage Biography 2022| Age, Parents, and Siblings. He has earned a name and become so famous personality. The total includes 290 . " because the name started with an A, it was above the fold so lots of people saw it," Kaphan said in an interview with the Y Combinator blog. Her plan is fueled by an argument that Amazon uses data it collects from other merchants in its marketplace to boost its own brands. 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. Explore FRONTLINEs collected and ongoing reporting on Russia's war on Ukraine. In 2012, he donated $2.5 million to defend gay marriage in Washington. Remote), Software Development Engineer III New Initiatives. Kaplan Foundation, IRS (Form 990 PF), 2018, Schedule B, Kaplan Foundation, IRS (Form 990 PF), 2018, Part I. Pinchin, Karen, Anya Bourg, and James Jacoby. [9], Following his departure from Amazon, Kaphan stayed out of the spotlight and did not sit down for an in-depth interview until 2011. In the interview, highlights of which are excerpted below, he expresses his concerns about the impact of Amazon on competition and innovation and says it could potentially make sense to break up parts of the company. I mean, nobody at the beginning had any clue how big Amazon could become, recalls Kaphan, now 58. It was a very pleasant and optimistic kind of a meeting.. Laurel Canan eventually married another early employee, Sara Jinks. When Northrop joined Amazon way back in 1995, employees were allowed to put whatever they wanted on their business cards, so he chose Shaman. The multi-talented professional is now president of Coastal Streets, a real estate development enterprise based in Marblehead, Massachusetts. She upheaves organic grass-fed beef there. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. To most it would seem obvious, but Bezos, who had suggested buying knee-pads to make packing on the ground easier, praised him for years for the completely brilliant idea. Correction 2/13/20: This post has been updated to remove an erroneous description of ARPANET; and to clarify that Kaphans view that Bezos likes to win at any cost isnt linked to what Kaphan describes as Bezos essentially libertarian worldview. He aided the Amazon organization and made it the largest retailer foundation in the world. Millions turn to Vox to educate themselves, their family, and their friends about whats happening in the world around them, and to learn about things that spark their curiosity. HaiPick Robots. It currently hosts eight coaching verticals, including meditation and writing, and the company also has its own app designed to track and build habits. He served many companies. Browse Individual Contributions: Sheldon Kaphan. FEC.gov. Documenting evidence of potential war crimes in Ukraine. In fiscal year 2018, the Kaphan Foundation reported $62,023,402 in revenue, of which $61.5 million came from a stock contribution by Kaphan, and $931,349 came from dividends and interest. "You can't do a job like that on caffeine. One of Amazons first employees says the company should be broken up, recent comments from Amazons second employee, Paul Davis, Chris Hughes has also called for the breakup, Congress, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Justice are all engaged in simultaneous investigations. Others went on to other major companies. September 21, 2022 September 18, 2022 by Tom Grill. When asked for comment on Kaphans remarks, Amazon spokesperson Jack Evans sent a statement: Amazons retail business competes in the worldwide market for retail sales and our competitors include all other online and brick-and-mortar stores that people shop at every day. Theyre doing what the business schools teach people to do 1999, accumulating an enormous amount of wealth due his. 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