Theodore John Jorgensen Jr., known as Ted Jorgensen, was the biological father of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
He was not the father who raised Jeff. That role belonged to Miguel “Mike” Bezos, who adopted Jeff as a young child.
Ted’s own life was far quieter. He worked as a unicycle performer in his youth and later ran a bicycle shop in Arizona for more than 35 years.
Ted Jorgensen at a Glance
- Full name: Theodore John Jorgensen Jr.
- Born: 10 October 1944, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Died: 16 March 2015, Phoenix, Arizona, United States, aged 70
- Best known as: Biological father of Jeff Bezos
- First wife: Jacklyn Gise (married 1963, divorced 1965)
- Second wife: Linda Fischer (married around 1988)
- Work: Unicycle performer; owner-operator of Road Runner Bike Center in Glendale, Arizona
- Son: Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen, later Jeffrey Preston Bezos
Early Life and Unicycle Career
Ted Jorgensen was born in Chicago on 10 October 1944.
As a young man in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he became a skilled unicyclist. He performed with a unicycle troupe and played unicycle hockey.
In 1962, he became president of the Albuquerque Unicycle Club, described as the world’s first unicycle hockey club.
That early show-business life is a very different picture from the quiet bike shop owner he later became.
Marriage to Jacklyn Gise and the Birth of Jeff Bezos
Ted met Jacklyn Gise while they were both still in high school in Albuquerque.
Ted was 18 and finishing high school when Jacklyn became pregnant. She was 17 and still in school.
The couple married in 1963. They repeated their vows at the Gise family home on 19 July 1963, after an earlier ceremony in Mexico.
Their son was born on 12 January 1964 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was named Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen.
Jacklyn had turned 17 only two weeks earlier.
Divorce and Loss of Contact
The marriage did not last.
Jacklyn left Ted to live with her parents and filed for divorce in June 1965. Jeff was 17 months old at the time.
Ted agreed to the divorce terms, including a small child support payment when he had money.
In 1968, Jacklyn married Cuban immigrant Miguel “Mike” Bezos. Shortly after the wedding, Mike adopted four-year-old Jeff with Ted’s permission.
Jeff’s surname was then legally changed from Jorgensen to Bezos.
Jacklyn, Mike and Jeff left the area and asked Ted not to contact them. Ted agreed, gave up custody, and lost track of the family.
This is why later claims that Ted stayed close to Jeff throughout his childhood are wrong. Contact had ended when Jeff was still a toddler.
Life in Arizona and the Bike Shop
Ted moved to Phoenix, Arizona, in 1974 and later moved his bicycle business to Glendale, Arizona.
He owned and operated Road Runner Bike Center in Glendale for more than 35 years.
Customers remembered him as a knowledgeable bike man who supported local BMX racing. His obituary records the same long run at the shop, from his move to the area in 1974 until his later years.
He did not work as an Air Force serviceman or as an engineer at Hughes Aircraft. Those details, which appeared in older online summaries, do not match the documented record of his life as a performer and bike shop owner.
Second Marriage
Around 1988, Ted married his second wife, Linda Fischer.
Linda had four sons from a previous relationship. Ted became their stepfather.
No reliable source confirms the older story that Ted met Linda when she was a nurse and romanced her over lunch. That detail has been left out here because it could not be verified.
How Ted Learned Who His Son Had Become
For decades, Ted did not know what had happened to his son.
He later said he did not know whether Jeff was alive, whether he had a good job, or where he was living.
That changed in 2012. Journalist and author Brad Stone tracked Ted down at his bike shop while researching his book, The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon.
Stone told Ted that his biological son was Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.
Ted was in his late 60s at the time. In a 2014 interview, he spoke with regret about not having been a more present father and called it a big mistake.
He said he wanted to apologise to his son. He did not, however, meet Jeff as an adult before his death.
Reports that Jeff’s mother prevented a meeting, or that Jeff wrote Ted a letter, circulate online, but the confirmed point is simpler: the two did not reunite in person.
Death
Ted Jorgensen died on 16 March 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona. He was 70, not 71.
He had long-standing health problems, including emphysema and heart problems, and had been a lifelong smoker.
He was not, as some summaries claim, a man whose death was a great loss to the wider Bezos family business. He lived a separate, modest life in Arizona, remembered locally for his bike shop and his unicycle days.
Who Is Jeff Bezos?
Jeff Bezos, born Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen, is the founder of Amazon.
He was raised by Jacklyn and Mike Bezos after Mike adopted him in 1968. Jeff has spoken warmly of Mike, who arrived in the United States from Cuba as a teenager.
Jeff founded Amazon in 1994 and built it from an online bookseller into one of the world’s largest companies. He stepped down as Amazon’s chief executive in July 2021.
Ted’s story matters because it explains the first, brief chapter of Jeff’s life, not because Ted shaped Amazon. The two men lived almost entirely separate lives.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Ted Jorgensen Jeff Bezos’ real father?
Yes, in the biological sense. Ted Jorgensen was Jeff Bezos’ biological father. Miguel “Mike” Bezos was the father who raised him and legally adopted him.
When did Ted Jorgensen marry Jacklyn Gise?
They married in 1963, while both were teenagers. Their son Jeff was born on 12 January 1964.
When did Ted Jorgensen and Jacklyn Gise divorce?
Jacklyn filed for divorce in June 1965, when Jeff was 17 months old.
Did Ted Jorgensen ever meet Jeff Bezos as an adult?
No. Ted last saw Jeff as a baby. He learned in 2012 that Jeff had become Amazon’s founder, but he died in 2015 without meeting him in person as an adult.
What did Ted Jorgensen do for a living?
He was a unicycle performer in his youth and later owned and ran Road Runner Bike Center, a bicycle shop in Glendale, Arizona, for more than 35 years.
When did Ted Jorgensen die?
He died on 16 March 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona, aged 70.
