Once a startup housed in a garage, Amazon is now one of the most powerful entities in the world economy, touching countless aspects of our lives. There鈥檚 probably a good chance you have placed orders in its marketplace, shopped at Whole Foods, read the Washington Post, streamed a movie made by Amazon Studios, or chatted with Alexa in your home. How has Amazon become so ubiquitous and where is it headed? In a virtual 91自拍 live event on May 12, 2021, Brad Stone, Bloomberg executive editor for global tech, discussed his new book, Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire, with colleague Emily Chang, anchor and executive producer of Bloomberg Technology and Studio 1.0.
Stone鈥檚 first book on the company, The Everything Store, was published in 2013 and quickly became outdated. Indeed, in 2010, Amazon was a $34 billion company and Bezos鈥� worth $16 billion. Today, it鈥檚 a $1.6 trillion company and Bezos is worth $191 billion. It鈥檚 clear that Amazon is one of a handful of defining companies of the age.
Stone had access to dozens of Amazon executives, engineers, and current and former employees who shared recollections and stories of a decentralized, complex company doing a million things at once. Ultimately, Amazon reflects the vision and ambition of one man: Jeff Bezos.
Stone says that Jeff Bezos is 鈥渃entral to Amazon鈥檚 inventiveness鈥� and explains that many ideas originated with the founder, including Alexa.
Brad Stone describes the origins of Alexa.
Alexa鈥檚 voice is that of a voice-over actress in Colorado, who was not able to talk to Stone about her experience with Amazon. Like most company鈥檚, Amazon likes to keep things private. So does Bezos, but he鈥檚 not always successful.
Bezos鈥� divorce was announced just when Stone sent his book off to his publisher. An affair revealed by the National Enquirer surprised Stone and others, who were used to Bezos鈥� meticulous choreographing of his public and family life. He鈥檚 human, of course, and Stone says Bezos鈥� transformation into a public figure鈥攁nd tabloid subject鈥攚as actually there for all to see. Teaming up with Hollywood to produce movies for Amazon Studios put him on a first-name basis with LA stars, and buying the Washington Post in 2013 as a distressed asset provided him with access to political players in Washington, DC.
Bezos likely saw his rescue of the Post as an opportunity to apply his resources and business acumen to turning an important American institution into a profitable business, says Stone. He could not have foreseen how Donald Trump鈥檚 antipathy to the paper would actually increase subscribership and burnish his image as a champion of a free press, as well as cause Amazon to lose lucrative government contracts. Then again, the paper鈥檚 connections to Amazon have been helpful. Amazon customers can now get special access to it on Kindle, and there are special Post apps preinstalled on tablets. The technical acumen of the Post has increased, and it now sells software to other media institutions.
Casting a wide net to prepare for future growth is reflected in Bezos鈥� big bets, whether it鈥檚 healthcare (Haven Healthcare), self-driving vehicles (Zoox), or even his sole funding of Blue Origin to develop space travel. It鈥檚 visionary, and also messy, as Bezos鈥� well-publicized competition with Elon Musk demonstrates.
Brad Stone describes Jeff Bezos' commitment to space travel.
Inside Amazon, the 鈥淕rand Challenge鈥� group looks for the next land rush, seeking opportunities to bring Amazon devices and services into new industries. Bezos meets with them weekly. The company culture encourages everyone to constantly push forward, often in a haphazard way with small 鈥渢wo-pizza鈥� teams or 鈥渟ingle-threaded鈥� leaders. It seems to have worked, but lately there鈥檚 been a lot of turnover in the upper ranks and, Stone says, investors might be worried about the loss of veterans accustomed to this strange way of working.
Investors may also have gotten a shock with Bezos鈥� recent announcement that he was stepping down as CEO. The old guard is moving on, whether because they鈥檙e ready for a change after decades of running at full speed, because of demands for more diverse leadership (which has been overwhelmingly white and male), or because calls to break up the company and congressional scrutiny has become too much to deal with. Indeed, while Amazon has big competitors (Google, Walmart, Shopify) and is clearly not a monopoly, the Biden administration seems willing to take a tough line. There鈥檚 bi-partisan support for looking into how Amazon treats third-party sellers.
Brad Stone explains how Amazon's marketplace treats sellers.
Despite legitimate complaints about Amazon鈥檚 marketplace from third-party sellers and small businesses, Stone doesn鈥檛 believe Congress will deal a 鈥渄eath blow to Jeff Bezos and his empire any time soon.鈥� But, there is opportunity for entrepreneurs to create a safe space for brands that want to connect directly to their customers and don鈥檛 want to participate in a marketplace with their competitors. Ironically, developing this kind of platform will help make Amazon鈥檚 case that they aren't a monopoly. But they do have other worrisome issues.
Stone referenced an explosive 2015 New York Times article that called out the brutal workplace culture at Amazon, describing people 鈥減eople weeping at their desks.鈥� In response, Amazon changed the review process and made it easier for people to transfer away from managers. Today, things are better, but Stone explained that the lack of empathy in the office culture was deliberate. Bezos said he didn鈥檛 want people to get comfortable, that he didn鈥檛 want a 鈥渃ountry club,鈥� and that everyone should be oriented toward moving quickly to achieve the next goal.
Outside of headquarters, Stone talked to employees to uncover the reality of work in Amazon warehouses, where raises are never guaranteed.
Brad Stone describes Amazon's workplace culture.
So, as employees and consumers, are we better off with Amazon or without? While Bezos argues that the company鈥檚 impact is positive, creating jobs and making shopping easier for customers, Stone notes that there are also serious costs. The company鈥檚 delivery trucks and planes have a huge carbon footprint, the marketplace has put small companies out of business, and by making things so easy to acquire Amazon promotes a perhaps unsustainable materialism. However, he admits to being a customer himself and thinks that as a 鈥渃onvenience engine for the Western world鈥� it probably balances out on the positive side. He suggests, however, that before clicking 鈥淏uy Now,鈥� everyone should think about how those dollars could nurture a local business in their community.
Now that he鈥檚 retired as CEO, what will Bezos do? Stone notes that although he鈥檚 been late to philanthropy, Bezos is aware that his legacy will in part be due to how he spends his fortune. So far, he鈥檚 funding early childhood care and tackling climate change with the Earth Fund.
Perhaps the man who built a complex, life-changing, global empire just might be able to help create an Amazon-sized solution to the greatest challenge of our time.
Amazon's Rise as a Global Empire | 91自拍 Live, May 12, 2021