Amazon Unbound
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stop construction: Matt Day and Daniel Beekman, “Amazon Issues Threat over Seattle Head-Tax Plan, Halts Tower Construction Planning,” Seattle Times, May 2, 2018, https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-pauses-plans-for-seattle-office-towers-while-city-council-considers-business-tax/ (January 25, 2021).
more than 19 percent of prime office space: Rosenberg and González, “Thanks to Amazon.”
sign a lease in Bellevue: Matt Day, “Amazon Confirms Major Office Lease in Bellevue, Will Occupy Former Expedia Headquarters,” Seattle Times, August 21, 2018 https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-confirms-major-office-lease-in-bellevue-will-occupy-former-expedia-headquarters/ (January 25, 2021).
“Capital goes where it is welcome”: Richard Karlgaard, “Capital Goes Where It’s Welcome,” Forbes, May 18, 2009, https://www.forbes.com/sites/digitalrules/2009/05/18/capital-goes-where-its-welcome/?sh=36ede97353d4 (January 25, 2021).
repealed their own tax: McCartney, “Amazon in Seattle.”
Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan: Daniel Beekman, “About-Face: Seattle City Council Repeals Head Tax Amid Pressure from Businesses, Referendum Threat,” Seattle Times, June 12, 2018, https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/about-face-seattle-city-council-repeals-head-tax-amid-pressure-from-big-businesses/ (January 25, 2021).
the company’s market capitalization: Brad Stone, “At $1 Trillion, Amazon Is Still Not Its Stock Price,” Bloomberg, September 4, 2018, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-04/at-1-trillion-amazon-is-still-not-its-stock-price (January 25, 2021).
“hunger games beauty contest”: Scott Galloway, “Professor Scott Galloway on Amazon HQ2 and Why It’s Time to Break Up Big Tech,” SupplyChain 24/7, January 25, 2018, https://www.supplychain247.com/article/professor_scott_galloway_on_amazon_hq2_break_up_big_tech (January 25, 2021).
“where Jeff wants to spend more time”: Ibid.
anticompetitive behavior: Lina M. Khan, “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox,” Yale Law Journal 126, no. 3 (2017), https://www.yalelawjournal.org/note/amazons-antitrust-paradox (January 25, 2021).
“Amazon selects New York City and Northern Virginia”: “Amazon Selects New York City and Northern Virginia for New Headquarters,” Amazon, November 13, 2018, https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/amazon-selects-new-york-city-and-northern-virginia-for-new-headquarters (January 25, 2021).
Corey Johnson: Corey Johnson, Tweet, November 13, 2018, 11:40 a.m., https://twitter.com/CoreyinNYC/status/1062384713535537152 (January 25, 2021).
“we’ve been getting calls… concerning to residents here”: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Tweet, November 12, 2018, 11:40 p.m., https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1062203458227503104 (January 25, 2021).
“onsite” but if not, “in reasonable proximity”: Chris Sommerfeldt and Michael Gartland, “NY Officials Went to Great Lengths to Get Amazon a Helicopter Pad in Queens Despite Fear of Local Pushback: Emails,” New York Daily News, April 16, 2020, https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-amazon-queens-helipad-emails-20200416-3oi2fwjzpzhmncfzalhqre5aru-story.html (January 25, 2021).
“Queens Ransom”: Ron Dicker, “Jeff Bezos and Amazon Make Off with Sky-High Perks on New York Post Cover,” HuffPost, November 14, 2018, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jeff-bezos-amazon-new-york-post-cover_n_5bec4243e4b044bbb1ab8738 (January 25, 2021).
required under a city program: “Industrial & Commercial Abatement Program,” NYC Department of Finance, https://www1.nyc.gov/site/finance/benefits/benefits-industrial-and-commercial-abatement-program-icap.page (January 25, 2021).
local Italian restaurant in Long Island City: See J. David Goodman, “Amazon Has a New Strategy to Sway Skeptics in New York,” New York Times, January 29, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/29/nyregion/amazon-new-york-long-island-city.html (January 25, 2021).
“Welcome to New York… bringing that pressure”: J. David Goodman, “Amazon’s New York Charm Offensive Includes a Veiled Threat,” New York Times, January 30, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/30/nyregion/amazon-queens-nyc-council.html (January 25, 2021).
company was rethinking its New York plans: Robert McCartney, Jonathan O’Connell, and Patricia Sullivan, “Facing Opposition, Amazon Reconsiders N.Y. Headquarters Site, Two Officials Say,” Washington Post, February 8, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/facing-opposition-amazon-reconsiders-ny-headquarters-site-two-officials-say/2019/02/08/451ffc52-2a19-11e9-b011-d8500644dc98_story.html (January 25, 2021).
“The question is… so welcoming”: Ibid.
“fair elections”: Josh Eidelson and Dina Bass, “Amazon Was Holding Talks Wednesday to Make NYC Deal Happen,” Bloomberg, February 14, 2019, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-14/amazon-was-holding-talks-wednesday-to-make-nyc-deal-happen?sref=dJuchiL5 (January 25, 2021).
“disrespectful to the people… anything like this”: Jillian Jorgensen, “De Blasio Fumes at Amazon and Skeptics of Dashed Deal for HQ2 in Long Island City,” New York Daily News, February 15, 2019, https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-pol-deblasio-amazon-hq2-20190215-story.html (January 25, 2021).
spoke on the phone with Bezos: J. David Goodman, “Andrew Cuomo Speaks with Jeff Bezos, Hints of ‘Other Ways’ to Clear Path for Amazon’s Return,” New York Times, February 28, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/28/nyregion/amazon-hq2-nyc.html (January 25, 2021).
tracking his private plane: Jonathan O’Connell and Andrew Ba Tran, “Where Bezos’s Jet Flies Most—and What It Might Say About Amazon’s HQ2 Winner,” Washington Post, November 2, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/where-bezoss-jet-flies-most--and-what-it-might-say-about-amazons-hq2/2018/11/02/792be19a-de16-11e8-b3f0-62607289efee_story.html (January 25, 2021).
Amazon would expand its offices: See “Amazon Creating 3,500 Jobs in Tech Hubs Across the U.S.,” Business Facilities, August 21, 2020, https://businessfacilities.com/2020/08/amazon-creating-3500-jobs-in-tech-hubs-across-the-u-s/ (January 25, 2021).
CHAPTER 13: COMPLEXIFIERS
“my wife still claims: Henry Blodget, “I Asked Jeff Bezos the Tough Questions—No Profits, the Book Controversies, the Phone Flop—and He Showed Why Amazon Is Such a Huge Success,” Business Insider, December 13, 2014, https://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-jeff-bezos-on-profits-failure-succession-big-bets-2014-12 (January 25, 2021).
“the sexiest thing I do”: Ibid.
2017 SummitLA conference: Jeff Bezos in conversation with Mark Bezos, “Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Brother Mark Give a Rare Interview About Growing Up and the Secrets to Success,” Summit LA17, 54:55, November 14, 2017, https://summit.co/videos/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-and-brother-mark-give-a-rare-interview-about-growing-up-and-secrets-to-success-3nBiJY03McIIQcgcoe2aUe (January 25, 2021).
underwent an extensive renovation: 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 25, 2021).
“Cocktail parties… not my sweet spot”: 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 25, 2021).
“public-facing introverts”: Katy Waldman, “The Idealized, Introverted Wives of MacKenzie Bezos’s Fiction,” New Yorker, January 23, 2019, https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-idealized-introverted-wives-of-mackenzie-bezos-fiction (January 25, 2021).
2013 TV interview: Jonah Engel Bromwich and Alexandra Alter, “Who Is MacKenzie Scott?” New York Times, January 12, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/12/style/jeff-bezos-mackenzie-divorce.html (January 25, 2021).
on a dogsled: Jeff Bezos, Twitter video, April 22, 2018, 4:34 p.m., https://twitter.com/JeffBezos/status/988154007813173248 (January 25, 2021).
“It really was an incredible… it was amazing”: Döpfner, “Jeff Bezos Reveals.”
Day One Fund: Sara Salinas, “Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Launches a $2 Billion ‘Day One Fund’ to Help Homeless Famil
ies and Create Preschools,” CNBC, September 13, 2018, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/13/bezos-launches-day-one-fund-to-help-homeless-families-and-create-preschools.html (January 25, 2021).
University of Southern California: Adrian Gomez, “Celebrity Buzz Centers on 2 ABQ Natives,” Albuquerque Journal, January 11, 2019, https://www.abqjournal.com/1267508/celebrity-bu-zzcenters-on-2-abq-natives.html (January 25, 2021).
shared love of flying: Sara Nathan, “Lauren Sanchez’s Brother Tells All on Bezos Romance: ‘This Was Real,’ ” Page Six, March 30, 2019, https://pagesix.com/2019/03/30/this-was-real-lauren-sanchezs-brother-tells-all-on-bezos-romance/ (January 25, 2021).
third annual MARS conference: Daniel Terdiman, “At Amazon’s MARS Conference, Jeff Bezos Plots the Future with 200 (Very) Big Brains,” Fast Company, March 23, 2018, https://www.fastcompany.com/40547902/at-amazons-mars-conference-jeff-bezos-plots-the-future-with-200-very-big-brains (January 25, 2021).
Bezos playing table tennis: MIT Technology Review, Twitter video, March 20, 2018, 6:57 p.m., https://twitter.com/techreview/status/976231159251324928?lang=en (January 25, 2021).
He also brought Sanchez: Keith Griffith and Jennifer Smith, “Jeff Bezos and Lover Lauren Sanchez ‘Made Out Like Teenagers’ in Hollywood Hotspot at Table Next to Michael Sanchez ‘Just Days After Their Spouses Discovered Affair,’ ” Daily Mail, January 12, 2019, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6583895/Jeff-Bezos-lover-reportedly-like-teenagers-Hollywood-restaurant-Felix.html (January 25, 2021).
“The human need to explore”: “Millions of People Living and Working in Space,” YouTube video, 1:57, posted by Blue Origin, October 15, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMdpdmJshFU&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=BlueOrigin (January 25, 2021).
he started Axis Management: David Ng, Stacy Perman, and Richard Winton, “Who Is Michael Sanchez? Low-Level Hollywood Manager Is a Pivotal Figure in Bezos-Pecker Storm,” Los Angeles Times, February 13, 2019, https://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-michael-sanchez-20190213-story.html (January 26, 2021).
Dylan Howard: Gary Baum, “Dylan Howard’s Hollywood Reboot: Why Are So Many A-Listers Working with a Tabloid Henchman?” Hollywood Reporter, February 3, 2020, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/why-are-a-listers-working-dylan-howard-1275651 (January 26, 2021).
according to an email that went out to AMI reporters: Lachlan Markay, “Emails Tell the Inside Story of How the Enquirer Got Jeff Bezos’ Nudes,” Daily Beast, July 3, 2020, https://www.thedailybeast.com/emails-tell-the-inside-story-of-how-the-enquirer-got-jeff-bezos-nudes (January 26, 2021).
one-day return to host Extra: “TV Reunion! Emmy Winner Lauren Sanchez Returns to Host ‘Extra’ This Thursday,” Radar Online, September 11, 2018, https://radaronline.com/exclusives/2018/09/tv-reunion-emmy-winner-lauren-sanchez-returns-to-host-extra/ (January 26, 2021).
“Bill Gates type”: Markay, “Emails.”
a payout of around $200,000: Joe Palazzolo and Michael Rothfeld, The Fixers: The Bottom-Feeders, Crooked Lawyers, Gossipmongers, and Porn Stars Who Created the 45th President (New York: Random House, 2020), 351–356.
on October 23: “Declaration of Dylan Howard, James Robertson and Andrea Simpson in Support of Defendants’ Special Motion to Strike,” in Michael Sanchez v. American Media, Inc, pg. 4, line 19.
financial ruin for AMI and jailtime: Letter to Charles Stillman and James Mitchell from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, September 20, 2018, https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/press-release/file/1119501/download (January 26, 2021).
terrified of getting sued: Michael Rothfeld, Joe Palazzolo, and Alexandra Berzon, “How the National Enquirer Got Bezos’ Texts: It Paid $200,000 to His Lover’s Brother,” Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-national-enquirer-got-bezos-texts-it-paid-200-000-to-his-lovers-brother-11552953981 (January 26, 2021).
Pecker exploded in anger: Ibid.
“bring the 747 in for a soft landing”: Evan Real, “Lauren Sanchez’s Brother Speaks Out About Involvement in Jeff Bezos Affair Leaking,” Hollywood Reporter, February 14, 2019, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/lauren-sanchezs-brother-speaks-involvement-jeff-bezos-affair-leaking-1186817 (January 26, 2021).
unfolding at the very same time as the HQ2 saga: Marc Fisher, Manuel Roig-Franzia, and Sarah Ellison, “Was Tabloid Exposé of Bezos Affair Just Juicy Gossip or a Political Hit Job?” Washington Post, February 5, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/was-tabloid-expose-of-bezos-affair-just-juicy-gossip-or-a-political-hit-job/2019/02/05/03d2f716-2633-11e9-90cd-dedb0c92dc17_story.html (January 26, 2021).
“We want to make people… lives as friends”: Jeff Bezos, Tweet, January 9, 2019, 9:17 a.m., https://twitter.com/JeffBezos/status/1083004911380393985 (January 26, 2021).
the scoop of his career wriggle from his grasp: Fisher, Roig-Franzia, and Ellison, “Tabloid Exposé.”
Trump also piled onto Bezos’s latest predicament: Matthew Yglesias, “Donald Trump’s Twitter Feud with Amazon, Explained,” Vox, April 4, 2018, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/4/17193090/trump-amazon-feud (January 26, 2021).
more details about Bezos and Sanchez: Dylan Howard, James Robertson, and Andrea Simpson, “Bezos Shared Wife’s Pillow Talk with Mistress, Boasted About U2’s Bono,” National Enquirer, January 12, 2019, https://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/jeff-bezos-shared-wifes-pillow-talk-with-mistress-lauren-sanchez/ (January 26, 2021).
“First Photos Show Jeff Bezos’s Girlfriend”: “First Photos Show Jeff Bezos’ Girlfriend Lauren Sanchez Carefree After Scandal,” Us Weekly, January 14, 2019, https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/pictures/lauren-sanchez-steps-out-after-news-of-jeff-bezos-affair-pics/ (January 26, 2021).
“The untold story… tombstone”: Declaration of Dylan Howard.
“whatever budget is needed”: Jeff Bezos, “No Thank You, Mr. Pecker,” Medium, February 7, 2019, https://medium.com/@jeffreypbezos/no-thank-you-mr-pecker-146e3922310f (January 26, 2021).
passing acquaintanceship with Trumpworld characters: Fisher, Roig-Franzia, and Ellison, “Tabloid Exposé.”
de Becker had identified Michael Sanchez: Lachlan Markay and Asawin Suebsaeng, “Bezos Launches Investigation into Leaked Texts with Lauren Sanchez That Killed His Marriage,” Daily Beast, January 30, 2019, https://www.thedailybeast.com/bezos-launches-investigation-into-leaked-texts-with-lauren-sanchez-that-killed-his-marriage (January 26, 2021); Lachlan Markay and Asawin Suebsaeng, “Bezos’ Investigators Question Michael Sanchez, Brother of Mistress Lauren Sanchez, in National Enquirer Leak Probe,” Daily Beast, February 13, 2019, https://www.thedailybeast.com/bezos-investigators-question-the-brother-of-his-mistress-lauren-sanchez-in-national-enquirer-leak-probe (January 26, 2021).
“strong leads point to political motives”: Markay and Suebsaeng, “Bezos’ Investigators.”
Chatham Asset Management: Gerry Smith and Elise Young, “New Jersey Officials Press National Enquirer’s Hedge-Fund Owner over Bezos Feud,” Bloomberg, February 12, 2019, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-12/n-j-officials-press-enquirer-s-hedge-fund-owner-over-bezos-feud?sref=dJuchiL5 (January 26, 2021); Katherine Burton, Sridhar Natarajan, and Shahien Nasiripour, “As N.J. Cuts Hedge Fund Ties, Chatham Shows That Can Take Years,” Bloom-berg, June 11, 2019, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-11/as-n-j-cuts-hedge-fund-ties-chatham-shows-that-can-take-years?sref=dJuchiL5 (January 26, 2021).
“just juicy gossip or a political hit job”: Fisher, Roig-Franzia, and Ellison, “Tabloid Exposé.”
“reporting… external forces, political or otherwise”: Bezos, “No Thank You.”
“Something unusual happened… all in writing”: Ibid.
“AMI’s long-earned reputation… true journalism”: Ibid.
“Our investigators… AMI was aware of the details”: Gavin de Becker, “Bezos Investigation Finds the Saudis Obtained His Private Data,” Daily Beast, March 31, 2019, https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeff-bezos-investigation-fin
ds-the-saudis-obtained-his-private-information (January 26, 2021).
“His continued efforts… source confidentiality”: See “National Enquirer Says Saudis Didn’t Help on Bezos Story,” Daily Beast, March 31, 2019, https://www.thedailybeast.com/national-enquirer-says-saudis-didnt-help-on-bezos-story (January 26, 2021).
putting AWS data centers in the country: Katie Paul, “Exclusive: Apple and Amazon in Talks to Set Up in Saudi Arabia—Sources,” Reuters, December 28, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-tech-exclusive/exclusive-apple-and-amazon-in-talks-to-set-up-in-saudi-arabia-sources-idUSKBN1EM0PZ (January 26, 2021); Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck, Blood and Oil: Mohammed Bin Salman’s Ruthless Quest for Global Power (New York: Hachette, 2020).
“Davos in the Desert”: Marc Fisher and Jonathan O’Connell, “The Prince, the Billionaire and the Amazon Project That Got Frozen in the Desert,” Washington Post, October 27, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-prince-the-billionaire-and-the-amazon-project-that-got-frozen-in-the-desert/2019/10/27/71410ef8-eb9c-11e9-85c0-85a098e47b37_story.html (January 26, 2021).
a plan to attack Bezos’s phone: Justin Scheck, Bradley Hope, and Summer Said, “Saudi Prince Courted Amazon’s Bezos Before Bitter Split,” Wall Street Journal, January 27, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-prince-courted-amazons-bezos-before-bitter-split-11580087674 (January 26, 2021).
“medium to high confidence”: Marc Fisher, “U.N. Report: Saudi Crown Prince Was Involved in Alleged Hacking of Bezos Phone,” Washington Post, January 22, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/un-ties-alleged-phone-hacking-to-posts-coverage-of-saudi-arabia/2020/01/22/a0bc63ba-3d1f-11ea-b90d-5652806c3b3a_story.html (January 26, 2021); Jared Malsin, Dustin Volz, and Justin Scheck, “U.N. Suggests Bezos’ Phone Was Hacked Using Saudi Crown Prince’s Account,” Wall Street Journal, January 22, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-n-experts-say-hacking-of-bezoss-phone-suggests-effort-to-influence-news-coverage-11579704647 (January 26, 2021).