compensation plans of, 112, 262
executive, leaving for rival company, 231–32
at fulfillment centers, 2, 7, 213–14, 219–22, 224, 236, 238, 288, 320, 351, 405
at fulfillment centers, Covid-19 and, 385–401
at fulfillment centers, pay increase for, 355–56
healthcare for, 16
leverage and, 164
managers, span of control of, 261–63
New York Times exposé on work environment of, 95, 109–11, 113–14, 119, 352
number of, 14, 19, 159, 285, 287–89, 292, 384
organizational rearrangement and, 261–62
parental leave program for, 114
Pay to Quit program for, 220
performance review system for, 114–15
on private-label teams, 200–203, 209, 258, 353, 368
recruiting difficulties and, 292
retail, hiring freeze on, 260
in Seattle, cap on number of, 304
stack ranking of, 110–12, 114, 219
turnover rate of, 109–10, 112
unions and, see labor unions
Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, 4, 397
Amazon Fire Phone, 2, 13, 15, 22, 33, 38–42, 45, 46, 58, 70, 95, 189, 382
Amazon Fire tablet, 40, 44, 75, 126, 129, 251
Amazon Fire TV, 33, 42, 44
Amazon Flex, 238
Amazon Fresh, 69, 188–91, 196, 197, 204, 207, 208, 211, 222, 230, 241–43, 391
Amazon fulfillment centers (FCs; warehouses), 6, 8, 9, 11, 80, 97, 104, 165, 183, 194, 197, 213–14, 216, 241, 354 accident prevention at, 238
Covid-19 and, 385–401
employees at, 2, 7, 213–14, 219–22, 224, 236, 238, 288, 320, 351, 405
employees’ pay increase at, 355–56
Fulfillment by Amazon for third-party sellers, 165–71, 173, 389
in Lehigh Valley, summer conditions at, 220–21
non-sortable, 217–18
robots in, 213, 222–24, 388, 389
Amazon fulfillment network, see Amazon transportation networks and logistics
Amazon Go, 13, 54–69, 70, 95, 102, 144, 148, 150, 158, 211, 244, 287, 404
Amazon headquarters in Seattle Blackfoot building, 99
Block 18, 303–4
Day 1 building, 150, 292, 303
Denny Triangle, 139
Fiona building, 25, 27
Otter building, 62, 65
Rainier Square Tower, 304
South Lake Union, 11–12, 21, 48, 99, 139, 288–89
Spheres, 150–51, 288, 289, 327, 381
Amazon India, 13, 70–71, 73–82, 86–93, 94, 95, 144, 148, 158, 287, 383–84
Amazon Kindle, 9, 14, 22, 23, 25–26, 27, 40, 55, 93, 116, 187, 211, 232 Fire tablet, 40, 44, 75, 126, 129, 251
Amazon Lockers, 211
Amazon Marketplace, 8, 13–14, 163, 165, 168–83, 187, 246, 254, 367–68, 376–79 Amazon Exclusives and, 170
Amazon Lending and, 170, 171, 375
Brand Registry and, 181
Chinese sellers on, 171–81, 183, 248, 254, 260, 287
counterfeit goods on, 13, 72, 177, 179–83, 370, 379
Covid-19 and, 389
data from sellers on, and Amazon’s private-label products, 201–3, 209, 353–54, 366, 368–71, 380
eBay and, 169
Fashion Seller Conference, 179–80
Fulfillment by Amazon and, 165–71, 173, 389
Project Zero and, 183
Seller Central and, 169, 172
sellers’ complaints about, 351, 367–68, 370–77, 405
unsafe products on, 177–78, 181, 379
Amazon Mexico, 80–85, 95, 144
Amazon Pharmacy, 404
Amazon Polly, 29
Amazon Prime, 8, 87, 104, 107, 109, 126, 138–39, 147–48, 158, 163, 165, 193, 211, 226, 227, 241–43, 263, 379, 384
Amazon Prime Day, 95, 104–9, 389
Amazon Prime Now, 194–98, 204, 205, 208, 211, 212, 213–14, 238, 241
Amazon Prime Pantry, 194
Amazon Prime Video, 48, 93, 136, 138–41, 143, 147–49, 152, 158, 183, 287, 401
Amazon private-label products, 198–205, 209, 211, 258–59 Basics, 199, 201, 203, 258, 372, 375, 378
Bloom Street, 198–200
Elements, 199, 200
employees on teams for, 200–203, 209, 258, 368
Essentials, 202
third-party seller data and, 201–3, 209, 353–54, 366, 368–71, 380
Wickedly Prime, 200
Amazon Restaurants, 260
Amazon S-team, 47, 73, 75, 80, 97, 98, 104, 105, 108, 113, 115, 156, 164, 168, 173, 181, 192, 195, 207, 214, 219–21, 224, 243, 246, 248, 262, 293, 294, 318, 336, 350, 352, 370, 402 advertising and, 249–51, 255–56
air freight and, 234
Alexa and, 50
Amazon Fresh and, 189
Amazon Go and, 55, 60, 62
Amazon private labels and, 200, 203
China-based sellers and, 174, 175
Covid-19 and, 386–87, 390
Herrington’s memo and, 189–90
HQ2 and, 298, 300–302, 305, 306, 315
India and, 80, 86–87
Smalls and, 395
warehouse worker pay and, 355–56
Amazon stock, 6, 7, 13, 15, 58, 94, 95, 103, 109, 210, 245, 262, 263, 288, 306, 384 Bezos divorce settlement and, 346
in Bezos’s funding of Blue Origin, 278
Bezos’s wealth and, 11, 15, 95, 112–13, 349
dual-class structure for, 320–21
taxes and, 354
Amazon Studios, 13, 14, 135–37, 141–58, 244, 322, 325, 326, 401 Bezos’s storytelling guidelines for, 151–52
Amazon Tap, 47, 48
Amazon transportation networks and logistics, 14, 212, 213–43, 287, 401 Amazon Air in, 14, 214, 232–36
Amazon Air crash and, 240
Amazon Logistics division, 228–31, 236, 239–42, 388, 402
Christmas fiasco at Worldport, 225–27, 232
crashes and, 237–38
delivery service partners (DSPs) in, 228–29, 236–41
delivery stations in, 230
drivers in, 14, 189, 191, 195, 211, 212, 214, 228–30, 236–41
drone program and, 233
fatal accidents and, 236–37
FedEx in, 226–28, 232, 233, 235, 242, 358
freight transporters in, 229
last-mile network in, 228, 241–42
Mosaic program of truck trailers in, 229
Prime air hub in, 235–36
Rabbit app in, 238–39
safety problems in, 236–40
sortation centers in, 14, 213, 227–29, 236
Sunday deliveries in, 227–28
UPS in, 14, 216–17, 225–28, 232, 233, 242, 358
USPS in, 227, 228, 242, 335, 351, 357–58
see also Amazon fulfillment centers
Amazon Treasure Truck, 204–6, 209
Amazon Web Services (AWS), 8–9, 13, 24, 29, 37, 70, 79, 95–103, 109, 115, 144, 182, 249, 259, 261, 263, 287, 312, 320, 351, 359–60, 362, 363, 377, 379, 384, 398, 405 Covid-19 and, 401
culture at, 99–101
JEDI contract pursued by, 351, 359–63, 381
re:Invent conference of, 362
revenues and profits of, 96, 103–4
Ambani, Mukesh, 93, 384
American Astronomical Society, 277
American Media Inc. (AMI), 32–35, 337–42, 345, 347
Anagram Genius, 34
Android, 24, 34, 38, 40, 41
Anker, 176–77, 375
A9, 70, 255, 258
Annapurna Labs, 103
antitrust issues, 351–52, 364, 377–78 Amazon and, 9, 10, 174, 307, 351, 353, 363–80, 381, 406
Bezos’s Congressional testimony and, 369–71
Google and, 259, 353, 366, 377
Microsoft and, 363, 378
Antitrust Paradox, The (Bork), 365
AOL, 7
Apollo p
rogram, 266, 272
Appen, 43
Apple, 9, 34, 42, 52, 71, 95, 111, 145, 158, 173, 229, 350, 359, 366, 377 Apple News+, 129
iPad, 40, 129
iPhone, 38, 41, 96, 129
Siri, 26, 27, 30, 32, 34
voice technology of, 37, 42
Washington Post and, 129–30
Arc Publishing, 129
Arendt, Hannah, 365
artificial intelligence and machine learning, 13, 22, 23, 36–37, 50, 55, 68 deep learning, 35, 36
see also virtual assistants
Asimov, Isaac, 23
AT&T, 378
Atlas Air, 234
Atomic Energy Commission, 266
ATSG, 234
Aubrey, Colleen, 253, 402
automakers, 219
Axel Springer, 124, 281
Axis Management, 327
Bain & Company, 262
Baldwin, Alec, 48
Ballmer, Steve, 94–96, 115
Bansal, Binny, 70, 73–74, 88, 91
Bansal, Sachin, 70, 73–74, 87–91
Barnes & Noble, 6
Barnett, David, 367–68
Baron, Marty, 123, 126–27, 130–32, 154
Barron’s, 12
Bart, Peter, 136
Barton, Bill, 36
BBC, 145
BBN Technologies, 35–36
BDO, 311
Beauchamp, Christine, 402
Beaudoin, Cathy, 180–81
Beck, 136
Beckinsale, Kate, 136
Bell, Charlie, 98, 101, 102
Bellevue, Wash., 304, 305
Bennet, Susan, 30
Berkshire Hathaway, 16, 128, 320, 379
Berman, Craig, 41, 106–7, 120
Betas, 142
Bezos, Christina (sister), 162, 244
Bezos, Jackie (mother), 5, 162, 244, 266, 325
Bezos, Jeff Amazon founded by, 5–6, 322
awards won by, 297, 343
biological father of, 12, 329
childhood home visited by, 161–63, 263
Congressional testimony of, 369–71
divorce of, 16–17, 318–21, 334, 345, 346, 349
fame of, 244, 249, 323, 324
homes of, 132–33, 135, 306, 322, 323, 347, 405
image makeover of, 15–16, 116, 244–45, 323
leadership style of, 10–12, 21–22, 167
musical tastes of, 31
National Enquirer story on Sanchez’s relationship with, 17, 319, 328–42, 344
phone hacking incident, 321, 344–45
portrait of, 1–2, 382
salary of, 112
Sanchez’s meeting of, 326
Sanchez’s relationship with, 17, 283, 318–19, 321, 324, 326–28, 344–47
as science fiction fan, 23, 30–31, 52, 266, 274
shareholder letters of, 6, 12, 22, 24, 39–41, 68, 182, 206, 268, 356, 373–77
60 Minutes interview with, 233
technical advisors to, 23–25, 71
transition to executive chairman position, 17, 405
wealth of, 2, 11, 15, 19, 95, 108, 112–13, 159, 163, 244, 245, 249, 263, 266, 282, 285, 288, 299, 306, 323, 346, 349, 355, 357, 384, 401, 404
Bezos, George, 161–62
Bezos, MacKenzie (wife), see Scott, MacKenzie
Bezos, Mark (brother), 162, 244, 245, 322
Bezos, Mike (father), 5, 162, 215, 244, 266, 275, 325
Bezos, Preston, 1, 382–83, 384
Bezos Day 1 Fund, 49, 324, 406
Bezos Earth Fund, 402–4, 406
Biden, Joe, 110, 354–55, 402
Big Billion Day, 78
Big Little Lies, 154
big tech companies, 401 government scrutiny of, 366–67
mergers of, 378
suspicion of and backlash against, 290, 305, 349–53, 364, 380
see also antitrust issues
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 403
Bing, 193
bin Laden, Osama, 117, 118
Birkenstock, 180
Blackburn, Jeff, 136, 139, 147, 152, 155–57, 251–53, 322, 402
Black Friday, 84, 104, 105, 226
Black Lives Matter, 395
Black Ops Aviation, 283, 310, 326
Blizzard Challenge, 29
Bloomberg, Bloomberg News, 95, 187, 223, 295, 360
Blue Origin, 16, 17, 120, 130, 244, 245, 264–83, 288, 310, 326, 327, 346, 387, 406 Bezos’s funding of, 278
Blue Moon project of, 279
budget of, 276–77
employees of, 265, 274–76, 278, 280–81
fuel mixes and, 269, 270
Kármán line and, 273, 282
Kent headquarters of, 264, 274–75, 277, 281
motto and coat of arms of, 268
New Glenn rocket of, 264, 272, 274, 277–79
New Shepard rocket of, 264, 267, 269–71, 273, 274, 276, 278, 280, 283, 288, 310, 327
as philanthropic enterprise, 269, 281–82
secrecy at, 268
test rocket failure of, 270
Texas ranch facilities of, 275, 281
Welcome Letter for new employees at, 267–70, 277, 278, 281
Blumenthal, Richard, 214
Boeing, 270–71, 272, 280, 290, 293, 294, 309
Bon Jovi, Jon, 325
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, 401
Borders, 169, 188
Borders, Louis, 188
Bork, Robert, 365
Bosch, 143
Bourdain, Anthony, 131
Bowden, Courtney, 397
Bowen, Sam, 23
Boyle, Sean, 249
Boys, The, 158, 401
Bradlee, Ben, 133
Branson, Richard, 6
Bray, Tim, 398–400
Brazil, 110, 231
Brennan, Megan, 358
Breuer, Lanny, 368
Brin, Sergey, 359
Brown, Dan, 34
Brownstein, Carrie, 154
Buffett, Warren, 128, 186, 320, 345
burgers, 206–9
Burgess, Tim, 290, 291
Burnett, Mark, 145
Burnett, T Bone, 136
Burnham, John, 149
Business Council, 16
Business Insider, 240
Business Today, 78
Businessweek, 99
Buy Box Experts, 377
Bystander Revolution, 323–24, 346
Callamard, Agnes, 345
Campfire, 153–55, 324–25
Canada, 80
Cape Canaveral, 272, 280
carbon emissions, 2–3, 381
Carlson, Teresa, 359, 362
Carnegie Mellon University, 29
Carney, Jay, 110, 118–20, 208, 263, 297, 311, 314, 315, 339, 351, 356, 357, 369, 390, 391
Carr, Bill, 138–40
Carrefour, 190
Catz, Safra, 360
CBS This Morning, 126, 144
CCDev, 270–71
Cengiz, Hatice, 347
Center for Investigative Reporting, 224
Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 394
Chapman, Gary, 64
Charlie Rose, 94
Chatham Asset Management, 331
Cheng, Albert, 157
Chicago, Ill., 303
China, 13, 70–73, 75–76, 78, 82, 86, 95, 104, 170, 189, 379 Communist Party in, 73
Marketplace sellers based in, 171–81, 183, 248, 254, 260, 287
Christensen, Clayton, 10
CIA, 359–60
Cicilline, David N., 366–69, 371, 377
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, 235, 293
Clarkson, Ian, 188
Clarkson, Jeremy, 145
Clancy, Tom, 149
Clark, Dave, 193, 194, 213–18, 221–35, 239–43, 355, 387–89, 392, 397, 399, 402, 405
Clark, Leigh Anne, 217
Clarke, Arthur C., 23
Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund, 403
climate change, 2–4, 17
, 381, 402–4
Climate Pledge, 2, 17, 381–82, 388
Clinton, Hillary, 1
cloud computing, 4, 13, 14, 22, 24, 25, 55, 96–98, 102 Amazon’s original products for, 97
Defense Department’s JEDI contract for, 351, 359–63, 381
see also Amazon Web Services
Cloudtail, 77, 88
CNET, 67
CNN, 353
Coca-Cola, 260
Coen, Joel, 135
Cohen, Michael, 331, 335
Collins, Doug, 367
Columbia Pictures, 141
Comcast, 139–40
Comic-Con, 145
Communications Decency Act, 379
computer speech recognition, 28, 36, 55 in Alexa, 28, 33, 36, 37
computer-synthesized speech, 28–29
computer vision, 13, 54–55, 57–58, 62–64, 68
Conscious Capitalism (Mackey), 185
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 353
ContextLogic, 171
Cook, Tim, 132, 345, 359, 369
“cookie licking,” 233
Corden, James, 2
Cornell, Brian, 231
Costco, 185, 192, 198
Coulter, Kristi, 60, 65
Covid-19 pandemic, 1, 4, 18, 348, 367, 369, 385–402 Amazon Pharmacy and, 404
Bezos’s public prominence during, 387–88
Bezos’s wealth and, 18, 401
customer demand during quarantine, 380, 387, 388, 391
essential item sales during, 389, 391, 392
face shields and masks during, 388–89
grocery delivery and, 68, 243, 391
labor unions and, 316, 392, 394
S-team and, 386–87, 390
testing and contact tracing in, 390, 396–97, 400–401
vaccines in, 402
Whole Foods and, 390, 391, 397
Covington & Burling, 368
Cox, Braden, 312–14, 316
Crisis in Six Scenes, 13, 149
Crow, Bill, 298
Cruise, Tom, 168
Cucinelli, Brunello, 346
Cunningham, Michael, 154
Cuomo, Andrew, 306, 310, 314–15
Curry, Stacey Hayes, 237
Daily Beast, 336, 342
Dallas, Tex., 292, 295, 296, 299–302, 308
Damon, Matt, 135, 325
databases, 97–99 see also cloud computing
Daudon, Maud, 290, 304
Da Vinci Code, The (Brown), 34