Amazon Unbound
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millions of masks to employees and was donating N-95 masks: “Getting Millions of Masks to Our Employees,” Amazon, April 5, 2020, https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/getting-millions-of-masks-to-our-employees (January 26, 2021).
withdrew Mother’s and Father’s Day promotions: Dana Mattioli, “Amazon Retools with Unusual Goal: Get Shoppers to Buy Less Amid Coronavirus Pandemic,” Wall Street Journal, April 16, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-retools-with-unusual-goal-get-shoppers-to-buy-less-amid-coronavirus-pandemic-11587034800 (January 26, 2021).
“household staples, medical supplies and other high-demand products”: “Temporarily Prioritizing Products Coming into Our Fulfillment Centers,” Amazon Services Seller Forums, March 2020, https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/t/temporarily-prioritizing-products-coming-into-our-fulfillment-centers/592213 (January 26, 2021).
selling those items was a mistake: “Investigation of Competition in Digital Markets,” pg. 270, https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/7222836-Investigation-of-Competition-in-Digital-Markets.html#text/p270 (January 26, 2021); Adi Robertson and Russel Brandom, “Congress Releases Blockbuster Tech Antitrust Report,” The Verge, October 6, 2020, https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/6/21504814/congress-antitrust-report-house-judiciary-committee-apple-google-amazon-facebook (January 26, 2021).
another seventy-five thousand workers: Dana Mattioli, “Amazon to Expand Shipments of Nonessential Items, Continue Adding Staff,” Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-seeks-to-hire-another-75-000-workers-11586789365 (January 26, 2021).
Distance Assistant: Brad Porter, “Amazon Introduces ‘Distance Assistant,’ ” Amazon, June 16, 2020, https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/operations/amazon-introduces-distance-assistant (January 26, 2021).
track the location of employees inside warehouses: Mark Di Stefano, “Amazon Drops Pandemic Test to Track Warehouse Workers Through Wi-Fi,” The Information, November 30, 2020, https://www.theinformation.com/articles/amazon-drops-pandemic-test-to-track-warehouse-workers-through-wi-fi (January 26, 2021).
in twenty-three states: Paris Martineau, “Amazon Quietly Expands Large-Scale Covid Testing Program for Warehouses,” The Information, September 24, 2020, https://www.theinformation.com/articles/amazon-quietly-expands-large-scale-covid-testing-program-for-warehouses (January 26, 2021).
thousands of tests a day across 650 sites: “Update on COVID-19 Testing,” Amazon, October 1, 2020, https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/operations/update-on-covid-19-testing (January 26, 2021).
“injecting Amazon with a growth hormone”: Matthew Fox, “ ‘COVID-19 Has Been Like Injecting Amazon with a Growth Hormone’: Here’s What 4 Analysts Had to Say About Amazon’s Earnings Report as $4,000 Price Targets Start to Roll In,” Business Insider, July 31, 2020, https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/amazon-earnings-wall-street-reacts-blockbuster-report-analysts-stock-price-2020-7-1029456482 (January 26, 2021).
at least five Amazon workers in Italy and Spain: Matt Day, Daniele Lepido, Helen Fouquet, and Macarena Munoz Montijano, “Coronavirus Strikes at Amazon’s Operational Heart: Its Delivery Machine,” Bloomberg, March 16, 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-16/coronavirus-strikes-at-amazon-s-operational-heart-its-delivery-machine?sref=dJuchiL5 (January 26, 2021).
French FCs would stay closed for a month: Matthew Dalton, “Amazon Shuts French Warehouses After Court Orders Coronavirus Restrictions,” Wall Street Journal, April 16, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-shuts-warehouses-in-france-11587036614 (January 26, 2021); Mathieu Rosemain, “Amazon’s French Warehouses to Reopen with 30% Staff—Unions,” Reuters, May 18, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-amazon-france/amazons-french-warehouses-to-reopen-with-30-staff-unions-idINKBN22U27G?edition-redirect=in (January 26, 2021).
“Amazon is gorging itself”: Pierre-Paul Bermingham, “Amazon Under Fire in France as Coronavirus Restrictions Hit Rivals,” Politico Europe, November 5, 2020, https://www.politico.eu/article/spotlight-falls-on-amazon-as-french-businesses-are-restricted-by-lockdown-rules/ (January 26, 2021).
hand sanitizer dispensers were often empty: Sam Dean, “Fearful of COVID-19, Amazon Workers Ask for State Probe of Working Conditions,” Los Angeles Times, April 9, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2020-04-09/fearful-of-covid-19-amazon-workers-ask-for-state-probe-of-working-conditions (January 26, 2021).
a single disinfectant wipe: Sebastian Herrera, “Fired Amazon Warehouse Workers Accuse Company of Retaliation, Which It Denies,” Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/fired-amazon-warehouse-workers-accuse-company-of-retaliation-which-it-denies-11586891334 (January 26, 2021); Spencer Soper and Matt Day, “Amazon Drivers Received Single Wipe to Clean Vans Before Shifts,” Bloomberg, March 18, 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-18/amazon-drivers-received-single-wipe-to-clean-vans-before-shifts?sref=dJuchiL5 (January 26, 2021).
workers were initially told to keep only three feet apart: Benjamin Romano, “Amazon Confirms Seattle-Area Warehouse Employee Has Coronavirus,” Seattle Times, March 28, 2020, https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-confirms-covid-positive-employee-in-one-of-its-seattle-area-warehouses/ (January 26, 2021).
“to stand up for something that’s right”: Josh Eidelson and Luke Kawa, “Firing of Amazon Strike Leader Draws State and City Scrutiny,” Bloomberg, March 30, 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-30/amazon-worker-who-led-strike-over-virus-says-company-fired-him (January 26, 2021; “Interview with Chris Smalls,” Emily Chang, Bloomberg TV, March 30, 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2020-03-30/striking-amazon-employee-accuses-company-of-retaliation-video (February 28, 2021).
Compounding the unfolding public relations problem: Paul Blest, “Leaked Amazon Memo Details Plan to Smear Fired Warehouse Organizer: ‘He’s Not Smart or Articulate,’ ” Vice News, April 2, 2020, https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dm8bx/leaked-amazon-memo-details-plan-to-smear-fired-warehouse-organizer-hes-not-smart-or-articulate, (February 28, 2020).
Amazon job listings for intelligence analysts: Hayley Peterson, “Amazon-Owned Whole Foods Is Quietly Tracking Its Employees with a Heat Map Tool That Ranks Which Stores Are Most At Risk of Unionizing,” Business Insider, April 20, 2020, https://www.businessinsider.com/whole-foods-tracks-unionization-risk-with-heat-map-2020-1?r=US&IR=T (January 26, 2021); Nick Statt, “Amazon Deletes Job Listings Detailing Effort to Monitor ‘Labor Organizing Threats,’ ” The Verge, September 1, 2020, https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/1/21417401/amazon-job-listing-delete-labor-organizing-threat-union (January 26, 2021).
Jumpp gave an interview to CBS’s 60 Minutes: “Amazon worker: At least 600 Amazon employees stricken by coronavirus,” CBS, May 10, 2020, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-workers-with-coronavirus-60-minutes-2020-05-10/ (February 16, 2021).
around twenty thousand: Amazon’s “Update on COVID-19 Testing.”
Amazon also dismissed Katie Doan, a Whole Foods employee: Lauren Kaori Gurley, “Whole Foods Just Fired an Employee Who Kept Track of Corona Virus Cases,” Motherboard, March 29, 2020, https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3zd9g/whole-foods-just-fired-an-employee-who-kept-track-of-coronavirus-cases (February 28, 2021).
Bashir Mohamed, a Somali FC worker: Sarah Ashley O’Brien, “Fear and a firing inside an Amazon warehouse,” CNN, April 22, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/22/tech/amazon-warehouse-bashir-mohamed/index.html (February 28, 2021).
Courtney Bowden, a Pennsylvania worker: Caroline O’Donovan, “This Fired Worker Says Amazon Retaliated Against Her. Now the Company is Facing Charges,” BuzzFeed News, December 4, 2020, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/amazon-worker-retaliation-coronavirus (February 16, 2021).
not a single competitor had released similar data: Amazon’s “Update on COVID-19 Testing.”
“Firing whistleblowers… drink that poison”: Tim Bray, “Bye, Amazon,” Ongoing by Tim Bray, April 29, 2020, https://www.tbray.org/ongo
ing/When/202x/2020/04/29/Leaving-Amazon (January 26, 2021).
Brad Porter: Brad Porter, “Response to Tim Bray’s Departure…” LinkedIn, May 5, 2020, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/response-tim-brays-departure-brad-porter/ (January 26, 2021).
Its most profitable year ever: Spencer Soper, “Amazon Projects Revenue Signaling Strong E-Commerce Demand,” Bloomberg, February 2, 2021, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-02/amazon-projects-revenue-signaling-strong-e-commerce-demand (February 28, 2021).
Amazon employed one million full… for the first time: Karen Weis, “Pushed by Pandemic, Amazon Goes on a Hiring Spree Without Equal,” New York Times, November 27, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/27/technology/pushed-by-pandemic-amazon-goes-on-a-hiring-spree-without-equal.html (February 28, 2021).
“Jeff’s legacy… unrecognizable”: Annie Palmer, “Jeff Wilke, Amazon’s Consumer Boss and a Top Lieutenant to Bezos, Will Step Down in 2021,” CNBC, August 21, 2020, https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/21/amazons-consumer-boss-jeff-wilke-to-step-down-in-2021.html (January 26, 2021).
Clark would write a letter… of Joe Biden: Annie Palmer, “Read the full letter Amazon sent to Biden offering to help with Covid-19 vaccines,” CNBC, January 20, 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/20/amazon-sends-letter-to-biden-offering-to-help-with-covid-19-vaccines.html (February 28, 2021).
Christine Beauchamp… Colleen Aubrey… Alicia Boler Davis from operations: Jason Del Ray, “Jeff Bezos finally added 2 more women to Amazon’s senior leadership team—joining 19 men,” Recode, December 5, 2019, https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/12/5/20998013/amazon-s-team-leadership-women-jeff-bezos-tech-diversity (February 28, 2021); Taylor Soper, “Here are the three Amazon execs who just joined Jeff Bezos’ elite ‘S-team’ leadership suite,” GeekWire, August 21, 2020, https://www.geekwire.com/2020/three-amazon-execs-just-joined-jeff-bezos-elite-s-team-leadership-suite/ (February 28, 2021).
MacKenzie Scott surprised the world: Sophie Alexander and Ben Steverman, “MacKenzie Scott’s Remarkable Giveaway Is Transforming the Bezos Fortune,” Bloomberg, February 11, 2021, https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2021-bezos-scott-philanthropy (Feburary 28, 2021).
“We will not tiptoe… climate change in the world”: Nick Tilsen, “Shifting Power and Emboldening Indigenous-Led Climate Solutions: NDN Collective on Bezos Earth Fund Grant,” NDN Collective, November 25, 2020, https://ndncollective.org/shifting-power-and-emboldening-indigenous-led-climate-solutions-ndn-collective-on-bezos-earth-fund-grant/ (January 26, 2021).
Amazon Care: Blake Dodge, “Amazon Wants to Provide Medical Care to Workers at Major Companies. Here’s an Inside Look at Amazon Care,” Business Insider, December 16, 2020, https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-amazon-care-telehealth-employers-2020-12 (January 26, 2021).
his job as CEO: “Amazon.com Announces Financial Results and CEO Transition,” Amazon, February 2, 2021, https://ir.aboutamazon.com/news-release/news-release-details/2021/Amazon.com-Announces-Fourth-Quarter-Results (February 17, 2021)
Bezos wrote in an email to employees: “Email from Jeff Bezos to Employees,” Amazon.com, February 2, 2021, https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/email-from-jeff-bezos-to-employees (March 10, 2021).
Index
A note about the index: The pages referenced in this index refer to the page numbers in the print edition. Clicking on a page number will take you to the ebook location that corresponds to the beginning of that page in the print edition. For a comprehensive list of locations of any word or phrase, use your reading system’s search function.
A&P, 350–51, 378
Aarstol, Stephan, 170, 374–75
Abercrombie & Fitch, 179
Academy Awards, 137, 322
Accel, 122
Ackerman, Neil, 33, 168
Acxiom, 252
Adams, Jeff, 27–28
Adobe, 252
advertising, 14, 72, 76, 82, 178, 246–59, 287, 379, 384 Amazon search and sponsored products, 254–59, 263
Amazon’s entry into, 250
banner, 246, 252, 253, 259
customer data and, 252
Google search, 82, 83, 85–87, 254, 255
in India, 86
in Mexico, 83
New York–based team for, 250–51
Product Ads service, 253
Super Bowl, 48, 283
Washington Post and, 130
Adzinia, 250
Aerojet Rocketdyne, 272
Affleck, Casey, 135, 137, 149
Agarwal, Amit, 71, 73–79, 86–87, 89, 93, 383
Agostini, Adrian, 170, 178
Airbnb, 96, 248
Air Force, U.S., 279
Albertsons Companies, 186, 210
Albrecht family, 196–97
Aldi Nord, 196–97
Alexa Prize, 52
Alfalfa Club, 322–23
Alibaba, 71–72, 76, 104, 171, 173, 177, 179, 248, 260, 379
AliExpress, 171–73
Alipay, 72
Allen, James, 262
Allen, Paul, 288
Allen, Woody, 13, 149, 152, 153
Allen & Company, 15, 244, 345
AlliedSignal, 8
Alphabet, 67, 320, 360–61
Alpha House, 142
Amazon advertising and, see advertising
algorithms of, 58, 164–65, 260
Amazon’s Choice products on, 257–60
annual net sales and profit of, 19, 159, 263, 285
antitrust issues and, 9, 10, 174, 307, 351, 353, 363–80, 381, 406
bookselling business of, 5, 9, 249, 378, 405
Campfire retreat of, 153–55
corporate culture at, 10, 18, 21, 95, 108–11, 113–15, 119, 398, 402
CRaP (can’t realize a profit) problem at, 189–90, 194, 204, 212
criticism of, 14, 214, 349–57, 364, 382, 391, 393, 398, 403
customer reviews on, 178, 201
customers refunded by, 197
as “Day 1” company, 6, 12, 406
“Day 2” stasis feared at, 248, 261, 262
early years of, 5–12, 15
employees at, see Amazon employees
flywheel (virtuous cycle) of, 8, 72, 163, 226, 245, 257
founding of, 5–6, 322
Google ads and, 82, 83, 85–87
growth and expansion of, 6, 8, 11–13, 17, 18, 80, 163, 263, 287–90, 292, 316, 349
Heartbeat database of, 201
HQ2, see HQ2
lawyers of, 113, 147, 202, 258–59, 368–69
leadership committee at, see Amazon S-team
leadership principles of, 10, 21, 36, 40, 61, 310, 406
leverage pursued by, 163–64, 183, 241, 242, 288, 405
“license to operate” of, 291
market capitalization of, 14, 19, 94, 109, 115, 159, 245, 263, 285, 288, 306, 384
OP1 meetings at, 10, 47, 50, 75, 76, 86, 102, 167, 168, 170–71, 244–49, 259–60, 262, 319
OP2 meetings at, 10, 102
physical stores of, see Amazon Books; Amazon Go
PR and policy department of, 352–53, 369, 399
PR FAQs at, 31, 57, 194, 204
prices lowered by, 365
private-label products of, see Amazon private-label products
profitability of, 94–96, 163, 166, 260
quality versus quantity of products on, 169–70, 175, 177
Quidsi acquired by, 9–10, 193, 209, 222
R&D expenses of, 67
retreat and slowdown of, 260
Ring acquired by, 319, 367
search results on, 201, 254–57, 259, 374
sponsored products on, 254–57, 259
S-team at, see Amazon S-team
stock of, see Amazon stock
taxes and, 117–18, 291, 301, 303, 335, 351, 354–57, 364
third-party sellers on, see Amazon Marketplace
transportation networks of, see Amazon transportation networks and logistics
two-pizza teams at, 10, 49, 51, 205, 239
2015 as critica
l year for, 94
Vine program of, 201
Washington Post and, 117–21, 126, 130, 134, 357, 363
whistleblowers fired from, 397–99
Whole Foods acquired by, 14, 15, 69, 186–87, 209–12, 213, 287, 353, 366
wind farm of, 245
Zappos acquired by, 9, 15, 193, 211, 220, 222, 353
Amazon Air, 14, 214, 232–36 Atlas Air crash, 240
Amazon Alexa, 13, 14, 16, 23, 26–38, 42–53, 54, 58, 65, 67, 70, 93, 95, 102, 116, 144, 148, 158, 187, 193, 195, 207, 211, 244, 258, 261, 287, 289, 401, 404 AMPED and, 43–44
beta testers of, 33, 37, 42–44
Bezos’s sketch for, 20, 25
bugs in, 51–52
as Doppler project, 26–38, 40, 42–47
Evi and, 34–36
Fire tablet and, 44
language-specific versions of, 50
launch of, 44–46
name of, 32
Skills Kit, 47, 52
social cue recognition in, 34–35
speech recognition in, 28, 33, 36, 37
voice of, 27–30
Voice Service, 47
see also Amazon Echo
Amazon Books, 64, 69, 336
Amazon Care, 404
Amazon Customer Excellence System (ACES), 218
Amazon Dash Carts, 64, 69
Amazon Echo, 12–13, 23–38, 42–53, 109, 206, 287 beta testers of, 33, 37
Bezos’s sketch for, 20, 25
bugs in, 51–52
design of, 32–33
as Doppler project, 26–38, 40, 42–47
Dot, 47, 50
launch of, 44–46
as music player, 30–31, 33
remote control for, 44–45
Show, 53
Tap, 47, 48
wake word for, 31–32
see also Amazon Alexa
Amazon employees, 2, 4, 10, 109–15 appeal process for, 114
badges worn by, 21
Bezos and, 110–15
Career Choice program for, 220