The richest man in town

Earlier today I sold my last shares of Amazon.com stock remaining from Amazon’s 1998 purchase (in cash, stock options, and shares) of the Internet Movie Database, a company I co-founded. This brings to a close an adventure that began as a hobby in the mid-1990’s, that turned into a job, that yielded riches, glamor, excitement, and renown (not to mention tedium, anguish, and heartache, but nothing worthwhile is easy).

At its peak during the dot-com boom, my ownership of Amazon.com was worth millions. Thanks to the dot-com crash and some bad planning, I ended up extracting only a fraction of that value, and I still haven’t entirely gotten over it. But it’s hard to feel too bad: it was a great ride, and with the proceeds we bought some cool toys and took some fun trips. It allowed me to earn practically nothing while launching another startup, where today my wife and several others earn a comfortable living. With Amazon money we had a terrific wedding, got a cozy home, and started an amazing family. Like George Bailey, I am the richest man in town.

Here’s lookin’ at you, Amazon. Thanks for everything.