 Shel Kaphan

First Amazon hire, wrote and led the team that wrote v1.

He looks like an older and more experienced dude compared to Bezos at the time.

Bibliography:
. www.geekwire.com/2011/meet-shel-kaphan-amazoncom-employee-1/2/ also mentions that unlike California, there's no sales tax in the state of Washington, which is important for selling books.