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  • You would never guess in a million, 2

  • or should we say 27 billion years 3

  • that this bicycle repairman 4

  • is the long lost biological father of Jeff Bezos, 5

  • founder of Amazon.com, 6

  • the man who changed the way we shop. 7

  • Look at 69-year-old Ted Jorgensen 8

  • side-by-side with Bezos. 9

  • They even share the same laugh. 10

  • (Jeff laughing) 11

  • (Ted laughing) 12

  • Until recently, Jorgensen had never even heard of Amazon. 13

  • He doesn't even use a computer. 14

  • Jorgensen says he still remembers 15

  • the very last time he saw his son. 16

  • I was working in a Walmart, 17

  • and I remember them comin' to visit me for some reason. 18

  • And it was cold, and he had his little winter coat on, 19

  • and I just remember him walkin' down the aisle 20

  • comin' to see me. 21

  • Jeff Bezos' mother Jackie and Jorgensen 22

  • were teenagers when they got married in 1963. 23

  • Back then, Jorgensen was a poor circus performer. 24

  • Their son Jeff was born in 1964. 25

  • After the marriage broke up, Jorgensen gave up custody. 26

  • Jackie remarried Mike Bezos, 27

  • who adopted Jeff and raised him as his own. 28

  • Have you ever regretted that decision? 29

  • Big mistake. 30

  • But at the time, I thought it was the best. 31

  • Jorgensen opened a bike shop 32

  • and toiled away in obscurity for the next 40 years. 33

  • Ted Jorgensen working in his bike shop 34

  • here in Phoenix, Arizona 35

  • when a biographer writing the book about Jeff Bezos 36

  • came in with news that would change Ted's life forever. 37

  • When the writer came in and told you 38

  • that your son was Jeff Bezos, 39

  • what was your reaction? 40

  • He asked me if I knew who Jeff Bezos was. 41

  • And what did you say? 42

  • I said, "No, 43

  • "the name kinda sounds familiar, but I don't know him." 44

  • Jorgensen lives in a modest house 45

  • in a middle class Phoenix suburb, 46

  • a far cry from Bezos's lakefront mansion in Seattle. 47

  • Forbes magazine lists Bezos as America's 12th richest man, 48

  • worth an estimated 27 billion dollars. 49

  • 27 billion, you know, with a B? 50

  • Jorgensen's second wife of 26 years, Linda, 51

  • says because Bezos is so rich and powerful, 52

  • contacting him is difficult. 53

  • Because of who Jeff is, I think it's made an obstacle 54

  • that wouldn't have been there 55

  • had he been a garbage collector. 56

  • Bezos has made only one comment 57

  • about his biological father. 58

  • "I've never met him. 59

  • "The only time I ever think about it 60

  • "is when a doctor asks me to fill out a form." 61

  • Jorgensen is battling emphysema. 62

  • He says he wants to see his son 63

  • one last time before he dies. 64

  • He says he doesn't want a penny from his son, 65

  • and just wants to apologize for what he calls 66

  • the biggest mistake of his life. 67

  • What would you say to him? 68

  • I would just like to tell him 69

  • I used to change your diapers, you know? (laughs) 70

  • And just see him, shake his hand, 71

  • and tell him he's really done a good job with his life. 72

  • (pensive music)

You would never guess in a million, 2

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