Bezos to his staff and customers: “You guys paid for all of this”

What do you think? Is that commendable gratitude, or one of the more tone deaf things you’ve heard recently?

9 thoughts on “Bezos to his staff and customers: “You guys paid for all of this””

  1. Both. It was likely spoken from a sincere place (for a man in his position). Yet, because of his position, he likely didn’t realize how tone deaf it sounded…especially when people are dealing with the implications of the pandemic. That said, I think people are making too much of it.

    1. Agree. While I don’t really understand the resentment created by the idea that it costs me money when I buy something that I want and get it, and the company that sold it to me makes money from it, I do know that that attitude is pretty general, so it was tone deaf to poke that resentment. But Bezos just seems insulated from that mentality, so from his standpoint, he was saying, “Thanks for helping me build my business, look what it all created!”, not “Haha I screwed y’all and got lots of money so look what I can do!”

      1. It may be that some (or even most) people resent the idea that a company makes a profit by selling to them, but I think in this case it has more to do with the scale. Bezos doesn’t just make a profit, he makes enormous profit. He’s so absurdly rich he can have a custom-built rocket to fly into space.

        I suspect there are a lot of people who are quite happy with the guy who makes a good living, or even gets rich, by providing good service, but who believe there ought to be a limit. That at some point, as I believe Barack Obama said, you have enough money, and the excess should be shared somehow.

        1. I somewhat agree. Yet, it doesn’t fully explain the social dynamic. For instance, Trump, despite being filthy rich (or at least the perception), people seemed supportive of his wealth (before and during his presidency), without limits. When the story broke about him not paying taxes some applauded and identified with him.

          I suspect personality/perception plays a part. If people happen to “like” the filthy rich person, they may give the benefit of the doubt and not punish them when they make a public faux pas relative to their wealth.

          1. Your reply reminded me of this, from “Son of a son of a sailor.”

            As a dreamer of dreams and a travelin’ man
            I have chalked up many a mile
            Read dozens of books about heroes and crooks
            And I’ve learned much from both of their styles

            People admire crooks. (Whether Trump is a crook or not isn’t the issue.)

            People admire the scoundrel. Loki. Indiana Jones. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Starbuck.

            Bezos doesn’t seem to be any sort of character. He has no charm, or charisma, or personality. He’s just “that rich guy who ran Amazon.” Maybe if he was more of a personality, people would react differently to his statement.

            1. QUOTE:Bezos doesn’t seem to be any sort of character.

              You may be on to something. I don’t think the general public “really” knows Bezos. For many, he appears aloof and mysterious and is “just” the rich guy. Having a public “persona” (hero or villain)…just might help him.

        2. Yes, I agree scale matters, but fundamentally, it’s the same thing. You got your stuff, you paid a fair price, but you’re mad that some guy made *a lot* of money off of it because a whole lot of other people got stuff they wanted at what they considered a fair price.

          I realize it’s not all that rational as it goes on in people’s heads, but still, people resent people making “too much” money off of them even though they are pleased with the actual way in which the rich person obtained the money, when it comes to their own personal experience doing business with said rich person.

          1. Albeit true in some cases, it doesn’t appear to be ubiquitous. It seems there’s a difference in perception and less resentment with billionaires such as Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey as compared to others such as Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. I suspect some of that difference has to do with their personality and how they earn and use their wealth.

      2. QUOTE: But Bezos just seems insulated from that mentality…

        Agreed. Sometimes wealthy and highly successful people are not self-aware relative to their public perception and can be genuinely surprised by some public reactions. Some have advisors that can provide insights about their blind spots. Unfortunately, sometimes, even with such counsel, they ignore it and continue to put their foot in their mouths. Maybe this will be a “learning moment” for Bezos? We’ll see.

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