An US$8.45-billion deal to acquire the storied movie studio MGM illustrated Amazon’s aspirations in video content, as did spending US$1 billion creating a Lord of the Rings TV series and billions more on sports rights including the NFL and the England’s Premier League. New business lines such as groceries, advertising and health care were still in their infancy but looked poised to become new “pillars” of the company. It hired tens of thousands of frontline workers at the peak, there were 1.7 million employees on Amazon’s books, not including delivery drivers or other contractors. In just 18 months it doubled the size of its logistics network, opening hundreds of new warehouses, delivery centres and even an air cargo hub. That sales boom gave the company confidence to go big and move quickly. Overall revenue grew 38 per cent in 2020 compared to previous year. The enforced closure of traditional stores and the global lockdowns of millions of employees led to a surge in e-commerce. “And this is just one of them.”Īt times during the pandemic, Amazon looked more like an emergency service than a retailer. “Companies that last for long periods of time have to find ways to adapt, and be successful, in lots of different phases,” he tells the Financial Times. Long-term debt now exceeds cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash. That was supercharged by the boom in sales in 2020.īut a combination of high spending and falling demand led the company to report a US$2.7-billion net loss for 2022. Prior to the pandemic, the company’s multiple high-margin operations drove up net income. His decisions are also hampered by Amazon’s balance sheet. There are as yet no “Jassyisms” to add to the evangelical “Jeffisms” imprinted on employees no significant projects that were not already well under way during the founder’s quarter-century in charge. Yet one year on, investors will want to see what fresh ideas the 55-year-old has to fend off “Day Two,” the uncomplimentary term Bezos used to describe the “stasis” of a company that was no longer innovating after the outpouring of ideas on “Day One.” The longer term challenge is similar to the one Tim Cook faced at Apple: to take over from a visionary leader who created one of history’s most successful companies in their own image, and somehow put his own stamp on it. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. His first challenges are to rein in the costs of Amazon’s pandemic-era expansion and respond to greater scrutiny from lawmakers and the general public, stakeholders that have grown more sceptical of the e-commerce juggernaut since the pandemic abated. But now he has it, he is faced with a substantial in-tray of both immediate challenges and longer-term strategic questions. Jassy has been at the company since 1997 and had previously said he did not seek nor expect the top job. But if he has a vision for the future, now would be the time to spell it out. The resulting program of layoffs will affect 18,000 people, the largest of any big tech company.Īs Bezos’ handpicked successor, Jassy has been met with mostly goodwill so far. Sales from Amazon’s own e-commerce operation fell for the first time ever last year, although revenues rose if commissions from third-party sales are included. Since he took over in 2021, Amazon’s market value has nearly halved from its high point. Few chief executives have had a more arduous start to the job. Jassy knows that he must engage more with Wall Street this year. “I thought this (call) might be a good one to join,” he told the analysts.
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