Jeff Bezos the latest tech billionaire to flex his muscles
The Amazon boss arrives at an exclusive conference looking like an action film star. Photo: Getty
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is the latest Silicon Valley tycoon to chase eternal youth.
Photos of the 53-year-old tech billionaire arriving in Idaho at the weekend for an exclusive conference for the world’s wealthy elite sparked an internet frenzy.
Mr Bezos showed off bulging biceps in a tight black polo shirt, topped off with a tactical-style vest, closely-shaved noggin and a pair of aviator sunglasses.
Gone was the balding hair and goofy grin. In its place, muscle and a mean stare.
The look matched the venue. The invite-only Sun Valley Conference, held at the Sun Valley Resort in July each year, attracts the heaviest hitters from US media, finance, technology, sport and politics.
Jeff Bezos holding the first book sold by Amazon in 1995, and now. Photos: Getty
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook and billionaire investor Warren Buffett joined the Amazon boss at the event.
Other notable attendees were Nike co-founder and chairman emeritus Phil Knight, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos, retired US general Stanley McChrystal, media mogul Michael Bloomberg, and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The pictures of Mr Bezos arriving at the event prompted hundreds of fans to weigh in on the billionaire’s physique – with plenty of them comparing him to an action film star or cracking jokes about Amazon’s recent purchase of health food grocery chain Whole Foods.
For Mr Bezos, it can’t have been an overnight transformation. This weekend’s short-sleeved outing may have caught the world’s attention, but others have noticed he has been undergoing gruelling workouts for years.
Brad Stone, author of a book about Mr Bezos and Amazon, speculated several years ago that the Amazon boss was hitting the gym because he wants to become an astronaut.
Mr Bezos owns a space exploration company called Blue Origin.
“One sort of interesting physical transformation is that as Amazon has grown, Jeff is in pretty good shape now,” Mr Stone said back in 2013.
“He looked a little pasty and rumbled after the 90s, and now he’s clearly working out every day. And the reason I bring that up is that I think he’s in astronaut training.”
Whatever the reason for the makeover, Mr Bezos is by no means the first Silicon Valley billionaire to undergo a dramatic transformation. Many of his fellow entrepreneurs in the testosterone-fuelled world of tech are using their wealth to try and keep old age at bay.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk during his PayPal days in 2000, and now. Photos: AAP / Getty
The best-known is probably Tesla founder Elon Musk, who looks vastly different to when the world first started hearing of him as CEO of PayPal.
Australians caught a glimpse of the billionaire recently when he flew to South Australia to announce that Tesla will build a giant battery storage facility in the state.
In between making his fortune from the sale of PayPal, growing the popularity of electric cars and attempting to launch rockets into space, Mr Musk also clearly found time for a makeover.
He now dates actress Amber Heard, former wife of Hollywood star Johnny Depp.
Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban has also been hitting the gym hard. Photos: Getty
Mark Cuban, 58, isn’t famous for a single deal or company. A whole string of tech-related ventures in the 1980s and 90s earned him his fortune.
One thing that’s clearly grown along with his vast wealth – estimated to be around $US3 billion – is his arms.
That’s in keeping with Cuban’s mad love of sports. He is the owner of NBA team the Dallas Mavericks, and cuts an imposing figure in a basketball singlet despite being almost 60.
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg has dropped the boyish look since 2007 and started wearing short-sleeves. Photos: Getty
Even nerdy Mark Zuckerberg appears to be jumping on the bandwagon.
While the Facebook founder hasn’t had as dramatic a makeover, he definitely looks like he has been hitting the gym more in recent years.