Jeff Bezos
Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos. Age 47. Raised in Texas and Florida, became computer whiz at Princeton. Bezos worked at hedge funds on Wall Street after graduation. Quit before his 30th birthday to sell books on the Internet from Seattle garage with his wife. Took Amazon.com public in 1997; company name derived from South American river's unending tributaries. Survived dot-com bust with discount pricing and free shipping.