Bezos leaves an enduring legacy as he steps down as Amazon CEO

AFP | Washington

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

As he prepares to blast off into a new career stage, Jeff Bezos leaves an enduring legacy after transforming Amazon from a modest online bookseller into one of the world’s most powerful corporations. Bezos, 57, is set to hand over the job of Amazon chief executive on Monday to Andy Jassy and turn his attention to his private space exploration firm, philanthropy and other endeavours. He will retain a key role, however, as executive chair at the technology and e-commerce colossus he founded 27 years ago.

The transition comes after a spectacular streak for Amazon, which has drawn attention for its innovations. But the firm has also been vilified over business practices that have crushed competitors and raised concerns over the treatment of a workforce of more than one million. “Bezos has been a transformational leader... in bookselling, the retail market, cloud computing and home delivery,” said Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Technology Innovation. “He was a pioneer who introduced many of the conveniences that people take for granted, such as going to an online store, ordering something, and having it delivered to your home the next day. The whole e-commerce sector owes many of its innovations to this individual.” In public appearances, Bezos often recounts the early days at Amazon, started in his garage, when he packed up orders himself and drove boxes to the post office. Today, Amazon has a market value of more than $1.7 trillion.

It posted 2020 annual revenues of $386 billion from operations in the e-commerce, cloud computing, groceries, artificial intelligence, streaming media and more.

What next for Amazon?

Bezos departure leaves questions about the future of Amazon as it faces a torrent of regulatory scrutiny and criticism from activists. US lawmakers are considering a measure that would make it easier to break up Amazon, amid concerns that a handful of Big Tech firms have become too dominant, hurting competition in a way that eventually harms consumers. Amazon was well-positioned during the coronavirus pandemic with its fast delivery of goods and groceries and boosted its US workforce to more than 800,000.

While the company has boasted of its $15 minimum wage and other benefits, critics say its relentless focus on efficiency and worker surveillance has treated employees like machines. The Teamsters union recently launched a campaign to organize Amazon employees, claiming its workers “face dehumanizing, unsafe and low-pay jobs, with high turnover and no voice at work.” Bezos appeared to respond to worker concerns earlier this year when he called for a “better vision” for employees after a bruising battle over a unionization vote in Alabama, which ultimately failed. He laid out a new goal for the company to be “Earth’s best employer and Earth’s safest place to work,” in his final letter as chief executive.

Yet Amazon is likely to face challenges ahead that will make it difficult to keep its trajectory. “The backlash against this sector probably will result in stronger government oversight of technology companies,” said Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Technology Innovation.

Roger Kay, the analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates, said Amazon might become “a victim of its own success” and be forced to break up into two or more firms. Still, he said that “each of those entities would thrive in its own market; I can easily imagine the sum of the parts being greater than the whole, so it might not hurt shareholders.”