Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is currently the richest person in the world. However, it could have turned out very differently. If he had been smarter as a physicist, the company might not exist today. And Microsoft founder Bill Gates could have given Bezos a tip to excel as a researcher.
What does Jeff Bezos have to do with quantum physics? Long before Jeff Bezos founded Amazon, he studied electrical engineering and computer science at Princeton University. He was attracted to quantum physics, a highly complex subfield of physics, and likely engaged with it to find his academic future – but his failure on a problem convinced him to pursue a different path.
Decades later, Bezos is partly responsible for his company’s successful film division, one of the successful products being the new Fallout series. Here’s a trailer for you:
A historic day in the life of Jeff Bezos
What did Jeff Bezos fail at? Although Bezos ultimately graduated with top marks, he had to admit after an episode that he did not have what it takes to be a leading mind in theoretical physics. He described this at an event in the Economic Club of Washington.
Bezos and a fellow student sat for hours in front of a partial differential equation, but they could not find a solution. They asked one of the best physics students at the university for help. The name had escaped Bezos, but he still remembered his origin: Sri Lanka.
Did the physicist solve the problem? Yes, and within a few seconds. Bezos was amazed and wanted to know how that was possible. The answer was simple: The person asked had dealt with a similar question in the past and could transfer the solution.
What did Jeff Bezos learn from this? Although he was a good student, the ambition to become a theoretical physicist was hopeless. He truly experienced a pivotal day then.
Instead, his career led him into the private sector and eventually to the top of one of the most powerful corporations in human history, Amazon. And it led him to immense wealth.
Who is the genius? The genius physicist recognized himself in the anecdote. This is Dr. Yasantha Rajakarunanayake, now a top researcher living in the western USA, including in the field of AI. When he read Bezos’s account, he spoke up on X (formerly Twitter) – and drew the same conclusion: If the history had not occurred, there would be no Amazon today
.
Meanwhile, there is another person whose tips could have changed Bezos’s life and, by extension, all of ours: Bill Gates.
If Bezos had asked Bill Gates for advice…
What does Bill Gates have to do with this now? Directly nothing, but some time ago the Microsoft founder listed some of the principles with which he approaches problems, as you can read here from our colleagues at Xataka in the translation. And one of them could have helped young Jeff Bezos quickly find a solution:
Who has been dealing with this problem for a long time? And what can we learn from them?
Bill Gates, via Xataka
Ultimately, Jeff Bezos did seek help, but he struggled for a long time to find a completely new solution. Although he might have guessed that a possible solution was sitting just a few rooms away. Bill Gates might have stayed on the path to become a physicist in research instead – but that’s ultimately pure speculation.
If you are interested after this interesting anecdote about a pivotal day in Jeff Bezos’s life in something that also excites the Amazon founder, we have something for you:
For the aerospace company Blue Origin may seem more like a hobby project of Bezos compared to Amazon, it shows one thing: He, like Elon Musk, is drawn to the stars. We have here a deep dive about a possible nova that is supposed to happen this year – and you might be able to observe it with the naked eye!
