The world's 3rd-richest man once used a cheap door as his office desk, now it is a symbolic award at his $2.3 trillion company

Time of India

20 hours ago

Despite a net worth of $241 billion, Jeff Bezos paid himself only $80,000 annually for years, relying instead on Amazon's growing value to build his wealth. His use of a DIY desk made from a door reflects his enduring belief in prioritizing customer-focused spending over corporate luxuries—a strategy that helped him quietly build a tech empire.
eff Bezos, now the world's third-richest man, once built desks out of cheap doors to save money when Amazon began in 1994. This frugal habit became a lasting symbol of Amazon's cost-conscious culture. (Representational image: iStock)
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
A Billionaire Who Chose the Long Game
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
From Desk Symbolism to Recognition Awards
No Carpentry Skills, Just Vision
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.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.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.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.