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. As of the year 2022, his Net Worth is estimated to be $1-$3 million. It is a Left-of-center grantmaking foundation. He is now the owner of The Kaphan Foundation. And I wish it wasnt so, but I had something to do with bringing it into existence; its partly on me., Asked if he favors a breakup of the company, which has been advocated by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and some anti-monopoly activists, Kaphan said, I think theyre now at the scale where that could potentially make sense.. Seventeen years ago, Shel Kaphan was No. Most recent Amazon title: Editor, books division. The retail market we operate in is fiercely competitive, and Amazon represents less than 4% of US retail sales.. Most people think of Jeff Bezos as the creator of the company. And I dont want to see that.. What she's doing now: Trinkle is a writer, editor, investor, and volunteer. After working at Apple in a variety of positions from 1977 to 1993, the IT professional held senior interface architect positions at database company Ingres, Documentum and Omnibiotics, and is now user experience architect at the eponymous design firm he founded in 1998. Cairns left Google in 2005 and spent time travelling, as well as engaging in philanthropy and angel investing. The total includes 290 . Most recent Amazon title: Editor, music and video. Rebecca Allen was an early Amazon engineer. He completed his bachelors in Mathematics from US Santa Cruz. Employee #1 is a series of interviews focused on sharing the often untold stories of early employees at tech companies. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. I was interested in the type of software that could run on those. Shel Kaphan Net Worth, Age, Biography, and Other Information. He left the company in 2010 and eventually co-founded ARRIVE Hotels & Restaurants, where he currently serves as chief investment officer. Not anymore. The Foundation also funded left-of-center electoral administration policy organizations, including $200,000 in general support to FairVote, a campaign to abolish the electoral college; $10,000 in general support to Fix Democracy First, which advocates the reversal of the Citizens United decision and taxpayer funding of election campaigns; and $300,000 in general support to the political finance organization MapLight. Amazon.com today is approaching 40,000 employees. In fact, to be completely technically true about it, he is the founder. Expenses: $2,299,980 Kaphan says he hasnt spoken to Bezos in decades but was motivated to air his concerns now after he read Zucked, a tell-all book written by Roger McNamee, former mentor of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. He has dark brown eyes and is maintaining his health and body figure. In 2011 he created goal tracking app Lift Worldwide, which formed the basis of his next venture Coach.me, a website and app created in 2015 that wantsto revolutionise the way that coaches and clients interact. He told Business Insider in 2017 that he was often the one personally making sure packages made it to the post office by jamming them into his car to drop off at the end of his long workday. Benson joined the company as an engineer. Shaw, and was a high school math teacher in Seattle before moving to Amazon. In the early days, Nelson used to be in charge of churning out book reviews for Amazon.com. He joined Apple in 1976 when he was a 14-year-old high school student, working part-time at first writing BASIC programmes. The Kaphan Foundations grantmaking is focused on left-of-center causes, including criminal justice policy, environmentalism, and technological development. Shel Kaphan was Amazon's first employee besides Bezos and his wife. According to the web, Shel Kaphan Net Worth is about $1-$3 million. 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. He basically was just arriving from the East Coast and setting up his house when I moved up from California. I just went over (to the Bellevue office) one day, and Jeff and Mackenzie said: We are not working today. He served many companies. To the people that were into it, it really was something amazingly cool. as well as other partner offers and accept our, Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories, She's said that Bezos could be a "royal a------", uses data to help you make stressful decisions. "'Wizard'" was way too old school, 'Jedi' wasn't yet in vogue, Scott Northrop was Amazon's "Unix Shaman.". He says hes proud of the company and the services it provides, and also casts new light on Amazons earliest days and its founder Jeff Bezos now the planets richest person. VP R&D & CTO. According to the year 2022, Nikki Delventhal Net Worth is about $1.5 million. He completely gave up coffee soon after. Nearly all of the company's earliest 21 employees have since left the company for other ventures like . Jeff Bezos is the CEO of Amazon since it was founded. Shaw research associate, married Jeff Bezos in 1993 and the duo founded Amazon together. Shel Kaphan, Self: Frontline. Seven yearslater Graves resigned,two months after Kalanick was ousted. Exclusive: Amazons First Employee Calls Company a Huge and Unstoppable Force. PBS.org, February 13, 2020. 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. We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Yan Pujante was part of LinkedIn during its formative years even before the team had an office and getin.com was still a possible name. Bezos is now one of the most powerful figures in tech, with a net worth of roughly $82 billion. Do you wish to know about Shel Kaphan net worth? Apple employee #8, Chris Espinosa was the company baby. Everyone was working long hours, and my girlfriend (now wife) Molly would come hang out in the warehouse in the evenings to help us pack up shipments. The main thing I am concerned about is just preserving the ability for small companies to innovate and to do so without fear of having their business taken away, he said. She is well-known for her business and is also active on social media. Although they took that first long road trip alone, it didn't take Bezos with his grand vision and boisterous laugh long to start pulling in talent. Share 28 Tweet Share Reddit Email. But if you take it too far, you reach like a breaking point where were going to see things potentially get uglier. Amazon's first employee, Shel Kaphan, sheds new light on the mid-1990s origins of the giant online retailer. He and his wife, Molly, run the Hanlon Foundation. Have a scoop that you'd like GeekWire to cover? Most recent Amazon title: Technical program manager. Amazon. [12]. She and Jeff Bezos divorced in 2019. Thats all for Shel Kaphan Net Worth and biography. Although he's not officially considered a cofounder, he and Bezos were discussing the company even before it was incorporated, and Bezos once referred to him as "the most important person ever in the history of Amazon.com.". The company has been the subject of increasing attention in recent days with Democratic senators criticizing Amazon for how it treats workers, and Amazon publicly touting its commitment to its employees and its role in helping the American economy. He took up various media roles in the following years, including senior director at cable TV channel ESPN, and a director position at global media company Cond Nast. Shel Kaphan is known for Frontline (1983) and Panorama (1953). He completely gave up coffee soon after. She's admitted that Bezos could be a royal a**hole with irrational stubbornness, but that it all came from his unrelenting desire to delight customers. A few are happily retired. You used to pay for social media with your eyeballs. Paul Davis was hired by Jeff Bezos in the autumn of 1994 back when the company was headquartered in the Bezos' garage in Bellevue. Interestingly it was Greenbergs knowledge of assassinated presidents, which won him a photoshoot via a phone-in radio competition,that led tothe creation of the famous 1978 image of the early Microsoft team. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Park Foundation; the Heising-Simons Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. In an interview for a new PBS Frontline documentary about Amazon viewed by Recode . He also worked as operations manager and eventually helped launch Amazon's German site. What she's doing now: Often writing about tech on her blog. Kaphan spoke to FRONTLINE for the upcoming documentary Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos, which airs Feb. 18. Organization Name. He completed the preliminary version in only two weeks. Trinkle won the National Spelling Bee in 1973 with the word "vouchesafe" and has served on the Bee's Word Panel since 1996, the same year she joined Amazon. When Jeff Bezos realized that Molly was helping us in the warehouse, he came down and had her sign a non-disclosure agreement. [4]. 'Wizard' was way too old school, 'Jedi' wasn't yet in vogue, he jokes on LinkedIn. Well, you could either consider me the first employee or a co-founder depending upon how you want to think about it., So, you are kind of the forgotten founder? Kaphan left Amazon in 1999, accumulating an enormous amount of wealth due to his stock options with the company. 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. Strauss had a variety of jobs at Amazon, including answering customer service calls, writing code, packing books, giving presentations, and "anything else you can imagine.". In fact, Amazon says it "owes its remarkable dog-friendly culture to Rufus. On one hand Im proud of what it became, Kaphan told the documentarys host, James Jacoby. Continue reading for our conversation. Despite his short stay he made a decent profit, managing to sell his stake in the company for a cool $1.3 million (1 million)at LinkedIns IPOin 2011. So, we just started shaking our networks, and talking to people.. When I first got there, we didnt have any computers yet, so the first job was to go shop for some computers and decide what database systems we were going to use and what software was available. Seventeen years ago, Shel. Her ethnicity, however, is white, and she is an American citizen. MacKenzie Tuttle, a D.E. But in every one of them, we have intense competition. These days, Amazon is one of the most valuable companies in the world and Bezos is the richest person in the world with a net worth of about $105 billion. 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. Instead, he joined Amazon, taking over operations in the company's warehouse. Kaphan says he still owns some Amazon shares; he wouldn't specify how many. She was Amazon's receptionist. He seems to be a very personal man. Laurel Canan eventually married another early employee, Sara Jinks. Shel Kaphan came from Santa Cruz in a U-Haul before the company was called Amazon. Most recent Amazon title: Information architect. In 2022, she has also served with magazines including Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, W, and Elle. She is a well-known entrepreneur and Tv personality. Karim Gharbi Net Worth. According to Amazon's first employee, Shel Kaphan, Benson was the one who got Amazon on Netscape's "What's New' and "What's Cool" pages when she worked there. Get the latest money-saving tips, expert strategies for boosting your wealth and generally-useful financial info sent straight to your inbox by entering your email address below. In the absence of federal regulation or intervention, Kaphan said Amazons supremacy will make Americas inequality problem worse. 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. In that year Roberts left the young company and then went on to be employee #8 at wearable tech company Fitbit in 2010. Employed at Amazon: 1996 to at least 2001, Most recent Amazon title: Warehouse employee. Since then, Kaphan has been more outspoken, usually concerning big tech issues and Amazon. At the same time, being large or powerful is not illegal on its own. He is currently an angel investor in Silicon Valley. because the name started with an A, it was above the fold so lots of people saw it, Kaphan said in. Microsoft's first technical writer Andrea Lewis, pictured in 1978 and more recently, started at the company in 1977 and was the only staff member hailing from Albuquerque, where the firm's first headquarters was located. Elizabeth poett Net Worth is estimated to be $1 million. Apple's longest-serving staff member, Espinosa continues to work at the firm. 1. What she's doing now: Susan Benson served as a board member at Town Hall Seattle, a nonprofit devoted to arts and education, until 2016. After rising through different roles at the company over the course of eight years, including chief software architect and director of technology, Pujante moved onto his true passion: electronic music. 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. , As of the year 2022, Eric Varvel Net Worth is $14 million. Next up is Randy Wigginton, Apple employee #6. Shel Kaphan has had 1 past job as the VP R&D & CTO at Amazon. Web Site Copyright 1995-2023 WGBH Educational Foundation. Shel Kaphan Foundation: He made his own foundation in 2005, The Kaphan Foundation. AP. ", Most recent Amazon title: Editor in chief. In January 2010, Uber founder Travis Kalanick tookto Twitter for tips on people to hire for his brand new start-up Ryan Graves replied with his email address and two months later he was Ubers first official employee, stepping into the role of CEO. Davis didn't stick around for long, however, leaving Amazon in 1996, and he currently juggles heading Linux Audio Systems and completing ultramarathons. 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. Most recent Amazon title: Information architect. It currently hosts eight coaching verticals, including meditation and writing, and the company also has its own app designed to track and build habits. 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.". A number of senior Amazon executives also spoke to FRONTLINE for the film, and take decidedly different views on many of Kaphans concerns disputing the idea that because of its size there needs to be some kind of intervention, or that it is stifling competition in any way. A computer industry veteran and former Whole Earth Catalog employee who moved to Seattle from Santa Cruz to take the job in 1994, hes an important character from the regions technology history whose story has never before been told. "It took him all summer to convince me," Kaphan tells The Macro in a series of interviews with early employees. Uncovering and explaining how our digital world is changing and changing us. He also addressed concerns around specific technologies and tools used by Amazon, including its proprietary doorbell camera system, Ring. The foundation had $4,405,381 in expenses, of which $4.4 million were disbursed as contributions and grants. Heather Cairns was Google's first ever HR manager. Jeff Bezos is the CEO of Amazon since it was founded. What he's doing now: He nows works as a program manager for Microsoft. uses data to help you make stressful decisions, She's admitted that Bezos could be a "royal a**hole", She's admitted that Bezos could be a royal a**hole. 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