In the early days of Amazon, when it was still an ambitious online bookstore launched from a garage in 1994, budgets were tight. With no revenue and the business running on his parents’ life savings, Bezos made do with what he had. According to a blog post on Amazon, desks were hacked together with a door slab from Home Depot and four-by-fours for legs. It wasn’t aesthetic—it was symbolic.
Nico Lovejoy, Amazon’s fifth employee, recalled how they settled on doors because they were cheaper than ready-made desks. “He [Bezos] looked at desks for sale and looked at doors for sale, and the doors were a lot cheaper,” Lovejoy said. “So he decided to buy a door and put some legs on it.”
Decades later, Bezos still keeps a more refined version of the same “door desk” in his office—a lasting tribute to Amazon’s scrappy beginnings.
A Billionaire Who Chose the Long Game
While the desk is a metaphor for Amazon’s famously lean operations, Bezos’ personal choices echoed the same values. For years, he paid himself a modest salary of just over $80,000—a sum that wouldn’t count as “rich” in most U.S. cities today. But this wasn’t about optics. Speaking to The New York Times, Bezos said, “I already owned a significant amount of the company and I just didn’t feel good about taking more.”
Instead of chasing bonuses, he focused on building Amazon’s value. According to Inc.com, in just one year (2023–2024), Bezos earned the equivalent of $8 million per hour simply through the appreciation of his Amazon shares. “How could I possibly need more?” he once remarked.
This choice also came with strategic tax perks. A 2021 ProPublica investigation showed that Bezos paid no federal income tax in 2007 and 2011. Between 2014 and 2018, his true tax rate stood at just 0.98%—lower than that of most middle-class Americans. Since stock gains are only taxed when sold, Bezos’ modest salary and long-term holdings helped him avoid traditional income taxes while his net worth soared.
From Desk Symbolism to Recognition Awards
Today, Amazon still embraces that door-desk legacy. Many employees, even in fulfillment centers, work at upgraded versions of the original. The frugal mindset, in fact, is codified into Amazon’s leadership principles: “Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and invention.”
To honor this ethos, Bezos presents the “Door Desk Award” at company meetings to employees who come up with cost-saving ideas. One such example: switching to gift bags from wrapping paper, a move that saved Amazon millions.
No Carpentry Skills, Just Vision
The original desks, by the way, weren’t exactly sturdy. “They were pretty wobbly,” Lovejoy chuckled. “You would never want to hire Jeff Bezos as a carpenter. He’s much better at other things. I think he’d tell you the same thing.”
And indeed, those “other things” turned an $80,000 annual salary into a $241 billion fortune, built not on extravagance, but on strategy, ownership, and the belief that small beginnings can lead to space-age dreams—literally.
Jeff Bezos recently got married to Lauren Sanchez in a star studded extravaganza in Venice in on 27 June.
Nico Lovejoy, Amazon’s fifth employee, recalled how they settled on doors because they were cheaper than ready-made desks. “He [Bezos] looked at desks for sale and looked at doors for sale, and the doors were a lot cheaper,” Lovejoy said. “So he decided to buy a door and put some legs on it.”
Decades later, Bezos still keeps a more refined version of the same “door desk” in his office—a lasting tribute to Amazon’s scrappy beginnings.
A Billionaire Who Chose the Long Game
While the desk is a metaphor for Amazon’s famously lean operations, Bezos’ personal choices echoed the same values. For years, he paid himself a modest salary of just over $80,000—a sum that wouldn’t count as “rich” in most U.S. cities today. But this wasn’t about optics. Speaking to The New York Times, Bezos said, “I already owned a significant amount of the company and I just didn’t feel good about taking more.”
Instead of chasing bonuses, he focused on building Amazon’s value. According to Inc.com, in just one year (2023–2024), Bezos earned the equivalent of $8 million per hour simply through the appreciation of his Amazon shares. “How could I possibly need more?” he once remarked.
This choice also came with strategic tax perks. A 2021 ProPublica investigation showed that Bezos paid no federal income tax in 2007 and 2011. Between 2014 and 2018, his true tax rate stood at just 0.98%—lower than that of most middle-class Americans. Since stock gains are only taxed when sold, Bezos’ modest salary and long-term holdings helped him avoid traditional income taxes while his net worth soared.
From Desk Symbolism to Recognition Awards
Today, Amazon still embraces that door-desk legacy. Many employees, even in fulfillment centers, work at upgraded versions of the original. The frugal mindset, in fact, is codified into Amazon’s leadership principles: “Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and invention.”
To honor this ethos, Bezos presents the “Door Desk Award” at company meetings to employees who come up with cost-saving ideas. One such example: switching to gift bags from wrapping paper, a move that saved Amazon millions.
No Carpentry Skills, Just Vision
The original desks, by the way, weren’t exactly sturdy. “They were pretty wobbly,” Lovejoy chuckled. “You would never want to hire Jeff Bezos as a carpenter. He’s much better at other things. I think he’d tell you the same thing.”
And indeed, those “other things” turned an $80,000 annual salary into a $241 billion fortune, built not on extravagance, but on strategy, ownership, and the belief that small beginnings can lead to space-age dreams—literally.
Jeff Bezos recently got married to Lauren Sanchez in a star studded extravaganza in Venice in on 27 June.
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