[ccthr]

it makes no profit yet Bezos is the richest man in the world by some margin?

How can you buy into that narrative.

The no profit book keeping is just a way to avoid paying tax.

As a shareholder I would rather see them pay fairer wages, be taxed appropriately and have a slower rate of growth.

If the cost of scaling at the speed they scale comes from unethical business practices then the answer is to scale slower, not exploit the worlds poorest and most vulnerable so that Jeff, myself and a load of other privileged capitalists can get even wealthier.

[zpeti]

I’m not buying into anything but investors are. Amazon isn’t profitable. It’s not to avoid paying tax, it’s to reinvest. And because investors don’t care about profits in amazon it makes bezos the richest man. This doesn’t have anything to do with my initial comment though. Amazon is cheap because it pushes costs down in every area. Including workers. And consumers like that.

[ccthr]

My answer to your initial question (what do people think amazon should do?)

Invest less in growth and more in the human capital that is essential to running the business.

Playing by a different set of rules guided by Jeff's meglomania has driven them to the top and that is laudable.

Once you've conquered the world do you still need to keep squashing the people you lead? What is it serving at that point other than pure egotism ?

[zpeti]

Ok, so In your opinion amazon is “done”. Game complete. From now on it’s megalomania to grow.

This isn’t how the world works. If you don’t develop others will take your place. Amazon is simply the best at this right now.

Even so, as consumers everyone has every right not to buy from amazon. But they do.

[ccthr]

Nope, I am not saying cease growing.

From my POV the most productive growth amazon can make as a company would be engaging in better ESG practices There are forms of capital outside of material assets and intellectual property.

Amazon is losing human capital (tbray as a high profile example, but I am sure he's the tip of an invisible and silent iceberg) Amazon is losing brand capital which will hit the bottom line (ethical consumption is an ever increasing trend) Amazon will continue to irk Governments with its lack of respect for sovereignty laws (tax in particular, but also labour and monopoly).