We have been employees of Amazon for like a week, but they had still not told us anything. They said, no, we have to tell you in a closed room. So we all got in the room together. They closed the door, locked the door, put paper over the window in the door. It was very hush hush, and then they said, imagine something the size of a coke can and people will be able to talk to it. And we thought, the technology isn't there yet, it doesn't exist yet. Jeff Bezos
wants to be seen as an inventor. We love to invent, We loved to pioneer. We even like going down alleys that turn out to be blind allies. He wants Amazon to be seen as an innovator. Talk to us about that fulfillment center. I don't see too many humans. Help us understand the amount of robots you have versus the amount of people you employ. A tech giant that drives social and technological change. I was like, Okay, this is amazing.
This is clearly an important moment technology. I was funnish, Right, how the hell did they do that? And by all accounts, Bezos got everything he wished for this. There's like no comparison, said Jeff Bezos is actually the richest person in modern histories, and in terms of just ship billions being accumulated that there's really nothing in history to compare. But as Amazon grew and Beazos became wealthier and wealthier, something began to change.
Amazon was ranked one of the twelve worst companies to work for, but many Amazon staffers say the demand for greater speed is the leading factor harming warehouse workers. Bezos became a target. They saw him as a villain, a ruthless capitalist. The pressure grew stronger and stronger. Protesters marched down thirty fourth Street intent to vent their anger at Amazon, and then Bezos made another surprising move. Jeff Bezos is stepping down. The announcement sent shock waves to the business
and tech commune. And Hi, I'm your host, brad Stone. This season on Foundering will take you inside Amazon's quest for world domination. Amazon is no question one of the most spectacular business stories of our times, and Bezos is a visionary. But he never could have foreseen how dramatically Amazon and his personal wealth would change him and in the process, alter our modern society. Check us out Foundering, a podcast from Bloomberg Technology. Listen wherever you get your podcasts