Amazon Employees React to Jeff Bezos’ WaPo Decision, Leaked Messages Show

• Jeff Bezos recently decided to end the Washington Post’s support for the president.
• In the leaked messages, Amazon employees were divided, with some supporting his call.
• Other Amazon employees questioned Bezos’ motives and timing.

Jeff Bezosthe president’s recent decision to end the Washington Post’s support for the president caused a negative reaction that lost the newspaper more than 250,000 subscriptions.

The situation with WaPo has also become hot button among some employees inside AmazonThe company Bezos founded and ran until 2021, according to dozens of internal Slack messages obtained by Business Insider.

While several Amazon employees criticized the change, some employees supported Bezos’ controversial call.

One employee praised Bezos for his willingness to share his point of view, noting that his time opinion wasn’t ideal. This person wrote that this is the type of leadership transparency that Amazon has been lacking since Bezos left in 2021, citing recent decision return employees to the office without adequate explanation.

“This is what I expect from a leader,” the employee wrote in one Slack message obtained by BI. “I’m starting to realize that most leaders aren’t like that.”

Another Amazon employee wrote that Bezos should publish more right-wing editorials in the Post to reduce the perception of bias.

Bezos drew criticism after the Washington Post, a publication he has owned since 2013, announced last week that will stop supporting presidential candidates let’s go forward. The Washington Post has long supported Democratic candidates, and some see the move as a way to curry favor with Donald Trump should he win next month’s US election.

Representatives for Amazon and the Washington Post did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

“Increasing authority”

Bezos, in opinion on Monday said there was “no quid pro quo” in his decision and said he was against supporting the president because they “do nothing to tip the scales in the election” but only create a “perception of bias.”

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Some Amazon employees agreed, according to Slack messages obtained by BI.

“If any news organization stopped supporting candidates, I would be more inclined to give them a read because I would see it as a confidence boost,” one staffer wrote.

Other Amazon employees said it was “stupid” and “sad” to see so many Washington Post readers canceling their subscriptions because of the approval issue. They said these readers were only willing to accept news articles that aligned with their political views, which prevented them from seeing the world as a whole.

“These biases lead to a distortion of what is actually happening (both left and right) and I think that is bad for the country,” wrote one Amazon employee.

“Suspicious and alarming”

However, some Amazon employees who assessed the company’s internal Slack were suspicious of Bezos’ true motives.

Those workers said the timing of the decision, which would have happened weeks before the election, was concerning. One employee called it “suspicious and disturbing.”

Trump is leading in some election polls and has a history of being the front-runner for the presidency, giving Bezos a “clear justification” for shirking any support, one staffer wrote.

“If they continue to not support people as time goes on, then perhaps I will accept this as a tipping point for a new policy,” another Amazon employee wrote. “As it stands, I have no faith in this editorial.”

Other Amazon employees were more forthcoming, saying they were planning to cancel their Washington Post subscriptions. One staffer wrote that it was “unthinkable” for the newspaper not to endorse a presidential candidate, given that “endorsement is a core function of print journalism.”

“Disappointing, see you later, WaPo is no longer a top 3 resource for me if your goal is to support the interests of your owners,” another Amazon employee wrote.

‘Not suitable for business”

Some employees took a more caustic view, pointing to the fact that Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp met with Trump the same day WaPo made its decision. Bezos owns the space company Blue Origin, which works closely with the government. Bezos said in his article that the meeting was impromptu and had nothing to do with the endorsement.

Other employees suggested several possible solutions to Bezos. One person suggested that the Post write two separate articles supporting each candidate and let readers choose.

Some employees compared Bezos’ remarks to recent comments by Amazon cloud CEO Matt Garman, who faced a negative reaction after he said nine out of 10 employees he spoke to were encouraged by the company’s commitment to returning to the office full-time.

One employee criticized Bezos and Garman for presenting opinions as facts.

“Presenting your opinion as fact is wrong,” the person wrote. “This is not good for business and does not correspond to the principle of “great responsibility” that we “should” follow.”

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