Editing Jeff Bezos (section)

== Criticism ==
Bezos is known for creating an [[Toxic workplace|adversarial environment]] at Amazon, as well as [[Workplace bullying|insulting and verbally abusing his employees]]. As journalist [[Brad Stone (journalist)|Brad Stone]] revealed in his book ''[[The Everything Store]]'', Bezos issued remarks to his employees such as "I'm sorry, did I take my stupid pills today?", "Are you lazy or just incompetent?", and "Why are you ruining my life?"<ref name="Caine" /> Additionally, Bezos reportedly pitted Amazon teams against each other, and once refused to give Amazon employees city bus passes in order to discourage them from leaving the office.<ref name="Caine" />

Throughout his early years of ownership of ''The Washington Post'', Bezos was accused of having a potential [[conflict of interest]] with the paper.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |last1=Streitfeld |first1=David |last2=Haughney |first2=Christine |date=August 17, 2013 |title=Expecting the Unexpected From Jeff Bezos |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/business/expecting-the-unexpected-from-jeff-bezos.html |url-status=live |access-date=March 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203080004/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/business/expecting-the-unexpected-from-jeff-bezos.html |archive-date=February 3, 2018 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Bezos and the newspaper's [[editorial board]] have dismissed accusations that he unfairly controlled the paper's content, and Bezos maintains that the paper is independent.<ref name=":2">{{cite news |last=Block |first=Melissa |title=Washington Post' May Find Conflicts in Amazon Coverage |publisher=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=209584962 |url-status=live |access-date=March 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310135543/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=209584962 |archive-date=March 10, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Fortune" /> Bezos' treatment of employees at ''The Washington Post'' has also drawn scrutiny.<ref name="Hamilton">{{Cite web |last=Hamilton |first=Isobel Asher |date=June 15, 2018 |title=More than 400 Washington Post staffers wrote an open letter to Jeff Bezos calling out his 'shocking' pay practices |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/washington-post-staff-sent-fair-pay-petition-to-jeff-bezos-2018-6 |access-date=November 28, 2022 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US |archive-date=November 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128201612/https://www.businessinsider.com/washington-post-staff-sent-fair-pay-petition-to-jeff-bezos-2018-6 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2018, more than 400 ''Washington Post'' employees wrote an open letter to Bezos criticizing his [[Living wage|poor wages]] and benefits for his employees. The letter demanded "Fair wages; fair benefits for retirement, family leave and health care; and a fair amount of job security".<ref name="Hamilton"/> Around 750 employees at ''The Washington Post'' went on a brief strike in December 2023 in response to Bezos' plans to [[layoff|lay off]] staff.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Folkenflik |first=David |date=December 7, 2023 |title='Washington Post' journalists stage daylong strike under threat of job cuts |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/12/07/1217690720/washington-post-workers-strike |access-date=January 6, 2024 |work=[[NPR]] |archive-date=January 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107032407/https://www.npr.org/2023/12/07/1217690720/washington-post-workers-strike |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2024, Bezos [[News media endorsements in the 2024 United States presidential election#Suppression of Harris endorsements|blocked the ''Washington Post''{{'}}s editorial board]] from endorsing [[Kamala Harris]] in the [[2024 United States presidential election|presidential election]]. The move was criticized by former editor [[Marty Baron]], who considered it to be an act of "disturbing spinelessness at an institution famed for courage" and said that it would invite intimidation of Bezos by Donald Trump. Editor-at-large [[Robert Kagan]] and columnist [[Michele Norris]] also resigned in the wake of the decision, and editor [[David Maraniss]] said that the paper was "dying in darkness". ''Post'' opinion columnists jointly authored an article calling the decision to not endorse a "terrible mistake", and it was condemned by the Washington Post Guild, a union unit representing ''Post'' employees.<ref name="GoldStelter">{{Cite web |last1=Gold |first1=Hadas |last2=Stelter |first2=Brian |date=2024-10-25 |title=Washington Post won't endorse candidate in 2024 presidential election after Bezos decision |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/25/media/washington-post-wont-endorse-presidential-candidate/index.html |access-date=2024-10-25 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Roig-Franzia |first1=Manuel |last2=Wagner |first2=Laura |date=2024-10-25 |title=The Washington Post says it will not endorse a candidate for president |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/10/25/washington-post-endorsement-president/ |access-date=2024-10-25 |newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mangan |first=Dan |date=2024-10-25 |title=Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris, paper reports |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/25/jeff-bezos-killed-washington-post-endorsement-of-kamala-harris-.html |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=CNBC |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chitwood |first=Adam |date=2024-10-27 |title=Washington Post Columnist Michele Norris Resigns Over Bezos Scrapping Harris Endorsement: 'A Terrible Mistake' |url=https://www.thewrap.com/washington-post-columnist-michele-norris-resigns/ |access-date=2024-10-27 |website=TheWrap |language=en-US}}</ref> More than 250,000 people (about ten percent of the ''Post''{{'}}s subscribers) cancelled their subscriptions, and three members of the editorial board left the board.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Folkenflik |first=David |date=2024-10-29 |title=More than 250,000 subscribers have left 'Washington Post' over withheld endorsement |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/10/29/nx-s1-5170939/more-than-250-000-subscribers-have-left-washington-post-over-withheld-endorsement |access-date=2024-10-29 |work=NPR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gold |first=Hadas |date=2024-10-28 |title=Three Washington Post editorial board members step down amid wave of canceled subscriptions over non-endorsement |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/28/media/washington-post-endorsement-subscribers-resign/index.html |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref name="w850">{{cite web |last=Helmore |first=Edward |date=2024-10-29 |title=Washington Post cancellations hit 250,000 – 10% of subscribers |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/oct/29/washington-post-subscriber-cancellations |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=The Guardian}}</ref> Condemning the ''Post''{{'}}s decision, several columnists, including Will Bunch, [[Jonathan V. Last|Jonathan Last]], [[Dan Froomkin]], [[Donna Ladd]] and [[Sewell Chan]], described it as an example of what historian [[Timothy Snyder]] calls [[wikt:anticipatory obedience|anticipatory obedience]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bunch |first=Will |date=2024-10-27 |title=Billionaire cowards at Washington Post, L.A. Times show what life under a dictator is really like |url=https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/washington-post-la-times-endorsements-trump-harris-20241027.html |access-date=2024-10-27 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Froomkin |first=Dan |date=2024-10-25 |title=Billionaires have broken media: Washington Post's non-endorsement is a sickening moral collapse |url=https://www.salon.com/2024/10/25/billionaires-have-broken-media-washington-posts-non-endorsement-is-a-sickening-moral-collapse/ |access-date=2024-10-27 |website=Salon |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Last |first=Jonathan V. |date=2024-10-25 |title=The Guardrails Are Already Crumpling |url=https://www.thebulwark.com/p/bezos-kills-washington-post-endorsement-guardrails-falling |access-date=2024-10-27 |website=The Bulwark |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chan |first=Sewell |date=2024-10-25 |title=The Washington Post opinion editor approved a Harris endorsement. A week later, Jeff Bezos killed it. |url=https://www.cjr.org/political_press/the-washington-post-opinion-editor-approved-a-harris-endorsement-a-week-later-the-papers-publisher-killed-it.php |access-date=2024-10-27 |website=Columbia Journalism Review |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ladd |first=Donna |date=2024-10-26 |title=Editor's Note {{!}} As Fascism Looms, A Free Press Must Stand Up |url=https://www.mississippifreepress.org/democracy-as-fascism-looms-the-free-press-must-stand-and-report-in-the-breach/ |access-date=2024-10-27 |website=Mississippi Free Press |language=en-US}}</ref> Snyder, too, condemned the decision.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Snyder |first=Timothy |date=2024-10-26 |title=Obeying in advance |url=https://snyder.substack.com/p/obeying-in-advance |access-date=2024-10-27 |website=Thinking about...}}</ref>

In January 2025, editorial cartoonist [[Ann Telnaes]] resigned from the ''Post'' after it refused to run a satirical cartoon critical of the relationship between American billionaires and President [[Donald Trump]], sparking conversations about the paper's ownership under Bezos; Telnaes called the decision "dangerous for a free press".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Telnaes |first=Ann |date=2025-01-03 |title=Why I'm quitting the Washington Post |url=https://anntelnaes.substack.com/p/why-im-quitting-the-washington-post |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=Substack}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Patton |first=Tess |date=2025-01-03 |title=Washington Post Cartoonist Ann Telnaes Quits After Bezos-Owned Paper Kills Trump Satire Piece |url=https://www.thewrap.com/washington-post-cartoonist-quits-after-bezos-trump-satire-killed/ |access-date=2025-01-03 |work=The Wrap}}</ref> In February 2025, Bezos announced that the opinion section of the ''Post'' will give voice only to opinions that support "personal liberties" and "free markets", and that divergent opinions will not be published by the ''Post''.<ref>NBC News, 26 Feb. 2025, [https://www.nbcnews.com/media/jeff-bezos-washington-post-op-ed-david-shipley-rcna193817 "Jeff Bezos Overhauls Washington Post Opinion Section, Says It will Focus on 'Personal Liberties and Free Markets,' Opinion Editor David Shipley decided to "step away" after Bezos offered him the chance to continue in his role but under this new editorial focus] </ref><ref name="Mullin">{{Cite news |last=Mullin |first=Benjamin |date=2025-02-26 |title=Bezos' Directive for Washington Post Opinion Pages Leads to Editor David Shipley's Exit |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/business/media/washington-post-bezos-shipley.html |access-date=2025-02-26 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> [[David Shipley]], ''The Post''{{'}}s opinion editor, resigned after trying to persuade Bezos to reconsider the new direction.<ref name="Mullin" /> Within two days of the announcement, it was reported that over 75,000 digital subscribers had canceled their subscriptions.<ref name = Folkenfirk>{{cite news|url = https://www.npr.org/2025/02/28/nx-s1-5312819/washington-post-bezos-subscriptions-cancellations|title = Bezos' changes at 'Washington Post' lead to mass subscription cancellations — again|last = Folkenfirk|first = David|date = February 28, 2025|accessdate = February 28, 2025|work = [[NPR]]}}</ref>

Due to his considerable influence on industry, politics, and media, Bezos has been described as an [[Oligarchy|oligarch]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Foer |first=Franklin |date=2024-11-02 |title=The Unique Danger of a Trumpist Oligarchy |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/11/trumpist-oligarchy-big-tech-takeover-musk-bezos/680503/ |access-date=2024-11-14 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Murphy |first=Tim |title=The rise of the American oligarchy |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/01/american-oligarchy-introduction-essay-russia-ukraine-capitalism/ |access-date=2024-11-14 |website=Mother Jones |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=Opinion {{!}} Democracy Dies... in the Pockets of the American Oligarchy {{!}} Common Dreams |url=https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/democracy-oligarch-us-election |access-date=2024-11-14 |website=www.commondreams.org |language=en}}</ref>