A job advert posted by Jeff Bezos in Amazon's early days has resurfaced online, leaving people stunned.
The multi-billionaire founded the e-commerce giant from the garage of his Bellevue, Washington home in July 1994.
Initially just selling books, it soon expanded to music and videos and then third-party sellers. Three decades on, it's now worth a massive $2.41 trillion and is the world's second-largest retailer behind Walmart.
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A little over a month after starting up the business, Bezos was on the hunt for a software developer. And there's one particular detail of the job advert that's caught people's attention.
Dated August 22, 1994, the post was titled: "Well-capitalized Seattle start-up seeks Unix developers."
It continued: “Well-capitalized start-up seeks extremely talented C/C++/Unix developers to help pioneer commerce on the Internet.
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“You must have experience designing and building large and complex (yet maintainable) systems, and you should be able to do so in about one-third the time that most competent people think possible."
Bezos wanted the candidates to have a 'BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science or the equivalent' as well as 'top-notch communication skills'.
The post continued: “Familiarity with web servers and HTML would be helpful but is not necessary.”
Bezos said new hires would be working with 'talented, motivated, intense, and interesting co-workers'. And, way before remote working, workers would've been required to relocate to the Seattle area - though the company would 'help cover moving costs'.
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While the advert didn't disclose a salary, it stated: "Your compensation will include meaningful equity ownership."
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“We are an equal opportunity employer,” Bezos wrote, finishing up with a quote from pioneering computer scientist Alan Kay who said: “It’s easier to invent the future than to predict it.”
Taking to Reddit to discuss the ad, people reckoned Bezos was asking for a hell of a lot. But others couldn't get over the offer of 'equity' in the now-trillion-dollar company.
One person said: "So incredibly easy to dismiss right? Yet acted on would net the person tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars within two decades. Insane."
A second reckoned: "Whoever took that job almost certainly made a lot of money just off the stock options... Unless they sold them early."
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And a third asked: "I'd be interested to know what happened to whoever got hired from that ad. Are they still with the company? Are they filthy rich now?"
Amazon stock was priced at $18 at its initial public offering (IPO) in 1997.
Taking into account the four stock splits that occurred since, the price for that first share would have cost jusr $0.075.
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So one single share bought at IPO would mean you'd have 240 shares today, worth around $47,280.
As it was such early days, it's likely the employee would've had more than one share in the company, meaning it could've been worth millions today.
Talk about a risk paying off!
Topics: Amazon, Business, History, Money, Technology, Jeff Bezos
Ellie Kemp