by Brad Stone
“one of the technology industry’s biggest and most important IPOs”: Ben Thompson, “The AWS IPO,” Stratechery, May 6, 2015, https://stratechery.com/2015/the-aws-ipo/ (January 20, 2021).
generated more than $9 billion in sales: Jon Russell, “Alibaba Smashes Its Record on China’s Singles’ Day with $9.3B in Sales,” TechCrunch, November 10, 2014, https://techcrunch.com/2014/11/10/alibaba-makes-strong-start-to-singles-day-shopping-bonanza-with-2b-of-goods-sold-in-first-hour/ (January 20, 2021).
“Don’t make this convoluted… we have to do it really well”: Karen Weise, “The Decade Tech Lost Its Way,” New York Times, December 15, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/15/technology/decade-in-tech.html (January 20, 2021).
he highlighted a section that targeted ten thousand deals for Prime Day: Ibid.
an article in Fast Company suggested that Prime Day cynically manipulated shoppers: Mark Wilson, “You’re Getting Screwed on Amazon Prime Day,” Fast Company, July 12, 2019, https://www.fastcompany.com/90374625/youre-getting-screwed-on-amazon-prime-day (January 20, 2021).
Amazon’s market capitalization surpassed Walmart’s: Matt Krantz, “Amazon Just Surpassed Walmart in Market Cap,” USA Today, July 23, 2015, https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2015/07/23/amazon-worth-more-walmart/30588783/ (January 20, 2021).
employees flooded into Seattle’s CenturyLink Field: Taylor Soper, “A Good Day: Macklemore Performs for Amazon Employees After Company Crushes Earnings,” GeekWire, July 24, 2015, https://www.geekwire.com/2015/a-good-day-macklemore-performs-for-amazon-employees-after-company-crushes-earnings/ (January 20, 2021).
a 5,800-word gut punch of an article: Jodi Kantor and David Streitfeld, “Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace,” New York Times, August 15, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html (January 20, 2021).
“misrepresented Amazon”: Jay Carney, “What the New York Times Didn’t Tell You,” Medium, October 19, 2015, https://medium.com/@jaycarney/what-the-new-york-times-didn-t-tell-you-a1128aa78931 (January 20, 2021).
“doesn’t describe the Amazon I know or the caring Amazonians I work with every day”: John Cook, “Full Memo: Jeff Bezos Responds to Brutal NYT Story, Says It Doesn’t Represent the Amazon He Leads,” GeekWire, August 16, 2015, https://www.geekwire.com/2015/full-memo-jeff-bezos-responds-to-cutting-nyt-expose-says-tolerance-for-lack-of-empathy-needs-to-be-zero/ (January 20, 2021).
“It seems to me you are all just a bunch of barnacles”: Diego Piacentini in conversation with the author, and Georges Guyon de Chemilly in conversation with the author.
Amazon would soon become a mainstay of those lists: Amazon Staff, “Amazon Ranks #2 on Forbes World’s Best Employers List,” Amazon, October 20, 2020, https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/workplace/amazon-ranks-2-on-forbes-worlds-best-employers-list (January 20, 2021).
Amazon also instituted an internal appeal process: Spencer Soper, “Amazon Workers Facing Firing Can Appeal to a Jury of Their Co-Workers,” Bloomberg, June 25, 2018, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-25/amazon-workers-facing-firing-can-appeal-to-a-jury-of-their-co-workers?sref=dJuchiL5 (January 20, 2021).
CHAPTER 5: DEMOCRACY DIES IN DARKNESS
“I predicted Osama bin Laden… a good location in real estate”: Glenn Kessler, “Trump’s Claim That He ‘Predicted Osama bin Laden,’ ” Washington Post, December 7, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/12/07/trumps-claim-that-he-predicted-osama-bin-laden/ (January 20, 2021).
“going to have such problems”: Tim Stenovic, “Donald Trump Just Said If He’s Elected President Amazon Will Have Problems,” Business Insider, Feruary 26, 2016, https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-says-amazon-will-have-such-problems-2016-2 (January 20, 2021).
The Post would expand and fortify Bezos’ reputation: See Jill Abramson, Merchants of Truth (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2019), for more on the challenges at the Washington Post before Jeff Bezos’s purchase of the newspaper and the changes he made afterward.
“focus the mind”: Ibid., 256.
Fred Hiatt, editor of the opinion page, offered to resign: Matthew Cooper, “Fred Hiatt Offered to Quit Jeff Bezos’s Washington Post,” Yahoo News, November 5, 2013, https://news.yahoo.com/fred-hiatt-offered-quit-jeff-bezoss-washington-post-123233358--politics.html (January 20, 2021).
“it’s entirely legitimate for an owner to have an editorial page that reflects his world view”: Craig Timberg and Paul Farhi, “Jeffrey P. Bezos Visits the Post to Meet with Editors and Others,” Washington Post, September 3, 2013, https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/jeffrey-p-bezos-visits-the-post-to-meet-with-editors-and-others/2013/09/03/def95cd8-14df-11e3-b182-1b3bb2eb474c_story.html (January 20, 2021).
lamented the rise of so-called aggregators… like the Huffington Post: Dan Kennedy, “The Bezos Effect: How Amazon’s Founder Is Reinventing The Washington Post—and What Lessons It Might Hold for the Beleaguered Newspaper Business,” Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, June 8, 2016, https://shorensteincenter.org/bezos-effect-washington-post/ (January 20, 2021).
“You have to accept it and move forward… institution like The Washington Post”: Abramson, Merchants of Truth, 262.
“It’s the most important newspaper… I’m eighty that I made that decision”: Mathias Döpfner, “Jeff Bezos Reveals What It’s Like to Build An Empire…,” Business Insider, April 28, 2018, https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-interview-axel-springer-ceo-amazon-trump-blue-origin-family-regulation-washington-post-2018-4 (January 20, 2021).
subscribers of other newspapers free online access: Justin Ellis, “By Building Partnerships with Other Newspapers, the Washington Post Is Opening Up Revenue Opportunities,” Nieman Lab, April 7, 2015, https://www.niemanlab.org/2015/04/congratulations-toledo-blade-reader-on-your-subscription-to-the-washington-post/ (January 20, 2021).
“working on becoming the new paper of record”: WashPostPR, “CBS: Jeff Bezos Talks Washington Post Growth (VIDEO),” Washington Post, November 24, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/pr/wp/2015/11/24/cbs-jeff-bezos-talks-washington-post-growth-video/&freshcontent=1/?outputType=amp&arc404=true (January 20, 2021).
“Thank you for making The Washington Post America’s New Publication of Record”: Ken Doctor, “On the Washington Post and the ‘Newspaper of Record’ Epithet,” Politico, December 3, 2015, https://www.politico.com/media/story/2015/12/on-the-washington-post-and-the-newspaper-of-record-epithet-004303/ (January 20, 2021); Frank Pallotta, “WaPo’s ‘New Publication of Record’ Claim Draws NYT Shots,” CNN, November 25, 2015, https://money.cnn.com/2015/11/25/media/washington-post-new-york-times-paper-of-record/ (January 20, 2021).
he froze the Post’s pension plans: Steven Mufson, “Washington Post Announces Cuts to Employees’ Retirement Benefits,” Washington Post, September 23, 2014, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/washington-post-announces-cuts-to-employees-retirement-benefits/2014/09/23/f485981a-436d-11e4-b437-1a7368204804_story.html (January 20, 2021).
boasted that the newspaper had better engineers than many Silicon Valley startups: Jeff Bezos interviewed by Marty Baron, “Jeff Bezos Explains Why He Bought the Washington Post,” Washington Post video, 4:00, May 18, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/postlive/jeff-bezos-explains-why-he-bought-the-washington-post/2016/05/18/e4bafdae-1d45-11e6-82c2-a7dcb313287d_video.html (January 20, 2021).
“riveting”: Benjamin Wofford, “Inside Jeff Bezos’s DC Life,” Washingtonian, April 22, 2018, https://www.washingtonian.com/2018/04/22/inside-jeff-bezos-dc-life/ (January 20, 2021).
on a path to generating $100 million in annual revenue: Gerry Smith, “Bezos’s Washington Post Licenses Its Publishing Technology to BP,” Bloomberg, September 25, 2019, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-25/bezos-s-washington-post-licenses-its-publishing-technology-to-bp (January 20, 2021).
exceeding 1.5 million for the first time: Joshua Benton
, “The Wall Street Journal Joins the New York Times in the 2 Million Digital Subscriber Club,” Nieman Lab, February 10, 2020, https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/02/the-wall-street-journal-joins-the-new-york-times-in-the-2-million-digital-subscriber-club/ (January 20, 2021).
new $65 million Gulfstream G650ER private jet: Marissa Perino, “The Most Outrageous Splurges of Tech Billionaires, from Richard Branson’s Private Island to Jeff Bezos’ $65 Million Private Jet,” Business Insider, October 15, 2019, https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-bill-gates-jeff-bezos-tech-billionaire-wildest-purchases-2019-10 (January 20, 2021), and Marc Stiles, “Costco Just Sold a $5.5M Boeing Field Hangar to Jeff Bezos,” Puget Sound Business Journal, October 22, 2015, https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2015/10/costco-just-sold-a-5-5boeing-field-hangar-to-jeff.html (January 20, 2021).
met the recovering Rezaian and his family: Rick Gladstone, “Jason Rezaian Travels to U.S. on Washington Post Owner’s Plane,” New York Times, January 22, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/23/world/middleeast/rezaian-family-departs-germany-us.html (January 20, 2021).
$12 million renovating the 27,000-square-foot structure, with its eleven bedrooms and twenty-five bathrooms: Wofford, “Inside Jeff Bezos’s DC Life.”
CHAPTER 6: BOMBING HOLLYWOOD
Here was a substantial slice of Hollywood’s A-list: Pete Hammond, “Pete Hammond’s Notes on the Season: AFI Narrows the Race; ‘La La’ Hits L.A.; Jeff Bezos Throws a Party ‘By The Sea’; Tom Ford Chows Down,” Deadline, December 8, 2016, https://deadline.com/2016/12/pete-hammonds-notes-on-the-season-afi-narrows-the-race-la-la-hits-l-a-jeff-bezos-throws-a-party-by-the-sea-tom-ford-chows-down-1201867352/ (January 20, 2021), and “Jeff Bezos and Matt Damon’s ‘Manchester by the Sea’ Holiday Party,’ ” IMDb, www.imdb.com/gallery/rg2480708352/?ref_=rg_mv_sm (January 20, 2021).
“Jeff is the opposite… very social guy”: Rebecca Johnson, “MacKenzie Bezos: Writer, Mother of Four, and High-Profile Wife,” Vogue, February 20, 2013, https://www.vogue.com/article/a-novel-perspective-mackenzie-bezos (January 20, 2021).
“intent this weekend was clear… for both himself and his company”: Peter Bart, “Peter Bart: Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Taking Aim at Hollywood,” Deadline, December 9, 2016, https://deadline.com/2016/12/jeff-bezos-hollywood-plan-amazon-manchester-by-the-sea-peter-bart-1201867514/ (January 20, 2021).
Comcast did the deal with Netflix instead: Mathew Ingram, “Here’s Why Comcast Decided to Call a Truce with Netflix,” Fortune, July 5, 2016, https://fortune.com/2016/07/05/comcast-truce-netflix/ (January 20, 2021).
anticompetitive: Cecilia Kang, “Netflix Opposes Comcast’s Merger with Time Warner Cable, Calls It Anticompetitive,” Washington Post, April 21, 2014, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/04/21/netflix-opposes-comcasts-merger-with-time-warner-cable-calls-it-anticompetitive/ (January 20, 2021).
later reached its own agreement with the cable company: Sarah Perez, “Amazon Prime Video is coming to Comcast’s cable boxes,” TechCrunch, August 2, 2018, https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/02/amazon-prime-video-is-coming-to-comcasts-cable-boxes/ February 23, 2021).
Amazon invited anyone to submit screenplays: Joel Keller, “Inside Amazon’s Open-Source Original Content Strategy,” Fast Company, March 8, 2013, https://www.fastcompany.com/1682510/inside-amazons-open-source-original-content-strategy (January 20, 2021).
Transparent became the first streaming series to win a Golden Globe: Jenelle Riley, “Amazon, ‘Transparent’ Make History at Golden Globes,” Variety, January 11, 2015, https://variety.com/2015/tv/awards/amazon-transparent-make-history-at-golden-globes-1201400485/ (January 20, 2021).
$250 million deal: Eugene Kim, “Amazon’s $250 Million Bet on Jeremy Clarkson’s New Show Is Already Starting to Pay Off,” Business Insider, November 21, 2016, https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-250-million-bet-on-the-grand-tour-paying-off-2016-11 (January 20, 2021).
Isa Dick Hackett: Kim Masters, “Amazon TV Producer Goes Public with Harassment Claim Against Top Exec Roy Price (Exclusive),” Hollywood Reporter, October 12, 2017, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/amazon-tv-producer-goes-public-harassment-claim-top-exec-roy-price-1048060 (January 20, 2021), and Stacy Perman, “Roy Price, Ousted from Amazon Over Sexual Harassment Claims, Is Ready to Talk,” Los Angeles Times, November 23, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2020-11-23/amazon-studios-roy-price-sexual-harassment-responds-me-too (January 20, 2021).
$3.2 billion on Prime Video in 2016: Michelle Castillo, “Netflix Plans to Spend $6 Billion on New Shows, Blowing Away All But One of Its Rivals,” CNBC, October 17, 2016, https://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/17/netflixs-6-billion-content-budget-in-2017-makes-it-one-of-the-top-spenders.html (January 20, 2021).
nearly $4.5 billion in 2017: Nathan McAlone, “Amazon Will Spend About $4.5 Billion on Its Fight Against Netflix This Year, According to JP Morgan,” Business Insider, April 7, 2017, https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-video-budget-in-2017-45-billion-2017-4 (January 20, 2021).
“When we win a Golden Globe, it helps us sell more shoes”: Mark Bergen, “Amazon Prime Video Doesn’t Compete with Netflix Because Viewers Will Just Pick Both,” Vox, May 31, 2016, https://www.vox.com/2016/5/31/11826166/jeff-bezos-amazon-prime-video-netflix (January 21, 2021).
a reported $250 million: Lesley Goldberg, “ ‘Lord of the Rings’ Adds 20 to Sprawling Cast for Amazon Series,” Hollywood Reporter, December 3, 2020, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/lord-of-the-rings-adds-20-to-sprawling-cast-for-amazon-series (January 21, 2021).
withdrew from the project: Brandon Carter, “Djokovic Cancels His Amazon Docuseries,” Baseline, November 28, 2017, http://baseline.tennis.com/article/70627/novak-djokovic-calls-amazon-documentary (January 21, 2021).
“bit of a gong show”: Ben Fritz and Joe Flint, “Where Amazon Is Failing to Dominate: Hollywood,” Wall Street Journal, October 6, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/where-amazon-is-failing-to-dominate-hollywood-1507282205 (January 21, 2021).
“they are in way in over their heads”: Ibid.
reversed its stance and published her full story: Masters, “Amazon TV Producer Goes Public.”
Chapter 7: The Selection Machine
In 2015, Amazon’s domestic retail sales: Spencer Soper, “Amazon’s Clever Machines Are Moving from the Warehouse to Headquarters,” Bloomberg, June 13, 2018, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-13/amazon-s-clever-machines-are-moving-from-the-warehouse-to-headquarters (January 22, 2021).
In 2010, Peter Szulczewski… advertising startup called ContextLogic: Vidhi Choudary, “Wish, Shopping App for Less Affluent Consumers, Files $1.1B IPO,” TheStreet, December 7, 2020, https://www.thestreet.com/investing/wish-shopping-app-files-for-1point1-billion-ipo (January 25, 2021).
renamed his company Wish.com… to recruit sellers and handle customer service: Priya Anand, “Wish, the Online Dollar Store, Is Losing Momentum Before IPO,” Bloomberg, December 15, 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-15/wish-the-online-dollar-store-is-losing-momentum-before-ipo (January 25, 2020).
In 2014, Wish raised $69 million from venture capitalists: Greg Bensinger, “Shopping App Wish Lands $50 Million Financing Round,” Wall Street Journal, June 27, 2014, https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-DGB-36173 (January 25, 2021).
They came away with the impression that the Amazon execs were skeptical: See Priya Anand, “Wish, the Online Dollar Store, Is Losing Momentum Before IPO,” Bloomberg, December 15, 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-15/wish-the-online-dollar-store-is-losing-momentum-before-ipo (January 25, 2020)
By then the Wish CEO… canceled and never went: Author interview with Peter Szulczewski, June 26, 2019. Szulczewski told a very different version of this story to Forbes and subsequently to clarify the discrepancy. See Parmy Olson, Forbes, “Meet the Billionaire Who Defied Amazon and Built Wish, the World’s Most-Downloaded E-Commerce App,” March 13, 2019, https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2019/03/13/meet-the-billionaire-
who-defied-amazon-and-built-wish-the-worlds-most-downloaded-e-commerce-app/#ff927bd70f52 (January 25, 2021).
then shipped them in containers that Amazon reserved at wholesale rates: Ryan Petersen, “Introducing Ocean Freight by Amazon: Ecommerce Giant Has Registered to Provide Ocean Freight Services,” Flexport.com, January 14, 2016, https://www.flexport.com/blog/amazon-ocean-freight-forwarder/ (January 25, 2021).
“The risky downside… low-key approach in the import countries”: See January 22, 2015, email sent by Sebastian Gunningham, released by House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust as submitted testimony, August 6, 2020, https://judiciary.house.gov/uploadedfiles/00185707.pdf (January 25, 2021).
In 2011, a software engineer… laptop batteries: Nick Statt, “How Anker Is Beating Apple and Samsung at Their Own Accessory Game,” The Verge, May 22, 2017, https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/22/15673712/anker-battery-charger-amazon-empire-steven-yang-interview (January 25, 2021).
heavily subsidized shipping rates… within the United States itself: Dave Bryant, “Why and How China Post and USPS Are Killing Your Private Labeling Business,” EcomCrew, March 18, 2017, https://www.ecomcrew.com/why-china-post-and-usps-are-killing-your-private-labeling-business/ (January 25, 2021 via https://web.archive.org).
faulty lithium-ion batteries… lawsuits against the company: Alexandra Berzon, “How Amazon Dodges Responsibility for Unsafe Products: The Case of the Hoverboard,” Wall Street Journal, December 5, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-amazon-dodges-responsibility-for-unsafe-products-the-case-of-the-hoverboard-11575563270 (January 25, 2021).
defective batteries… and more news coverage: Alana Semuels, “When Your Amazon Purchase Explodes,” Atlantic, April 30, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/04/lithium-ion-batteries-amazon-are-exploding/587005/ (January 25, 2021).
sandal maker Birkenstock… selling its products on the site: Ari Levy, “Birkenstock Quits Amazon in US After Counterfeit Surge,” CNBC, July 20, 2016, https://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/20/birkenstock-quits-amazon-in-us-after-counterfeit-surge.html (January 25, 2021).
