He stated,In fact, I'd have been proud of myself for having taken that risk and tried to participate in that thing called the Internet that I thought was going to be such a big deal.And I knew if I didn't try this, I would regret it. And that would be inescapable.Bezos's parents supported his decision, investing the$300, 000 they had saved for retirement in their son's venture which was later amply rewarded; they became billionaires.Bezos and his wife, McKenzie, moved to Seatte to start the company and persuaded the highly successful programmer Shel Kaphan to be among the first employees hired.Bezos officially founded Amazon.com in 1994. In June 1995 the first Web site was tested.On July 16, 1995, Amazon.com was made available to consumers in every state and 45 other countries. Sales were immdiate.Bezos told Time, Within the first few days, I knew it was going to be huge.The media noticed and reported on Amazon, and as a result of the publicity the company's consumer base rapidly increased.Bezos owned and operated his own warehouses for the book inventory; as of 2003 Amazon had six.
