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Jeff Bezos Building $42M Clock

Amazon founder's time piece will be 200 feet tall, last 10K years

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 19, 2012 4:05 PM CDT

(Newser) – Nobody spends money quite like Jeff Bezos. Case in point: The Amazon founder and CEO is building a 200-foot-tall clock deep inside a mountain near his West Texas property, the Wall Street Journal reports. Dubbed the "10,000 Year Clock," the device is designed to last millennia, playing chimes each day composed by Brian Eno. "It is a symbol of long-term thinking," Bezos explains, and a reminder to humans to think about the long-term future. "In certain ways we're a danger to ourselves."

Bezos is also preoccupied with space exploration—the clock isn't far from the launch site for his Blue Origin spaceships, and he funded a recent mission to find Apollo 11's sunken rockets. He has other eclectic investments, too. Four years ago, for instance, he bought into a Seattle glassblowing shop. "He really wants us to go big," the owner says. "We were trying to figure out where to open another shop, and he said, 'Go to Africa. Use the sand on the beach. Employ people.'"

Jeff Bezos, chairman and CEO of Amazon.com, introduces the Kindle Touch 3G at a news conference last year.
Jeff Bezos, chairman and CEO of Amazon.com, introduces the Kindle Touch 3G at a news conference last year.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
In this file photo, Amazon.com Inc. CEO and founder Jeff Bezos speaks during the company's shareholders meeting in Seattle.
In this file photo, Amazon.com Inc. CEO and founder Jeff Bezos speaks during the company's shareholders meeting in Seattle.   (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 7 comments
JoeQ
Jun 19, 2012 11:16 PM CDT
It will be the tock of the town.
pg13
Jun 19, 2012 8:15 PM CDT
Whoa.   I think I read about a clock like that in a book by Tom Robbins called "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues"
Fondue
Jun 19, 2012 6:37 PM CDT
Tax the rich! Isn't Amazon the same company that didn't want to pay taxes?
 

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