Public image

Bezos at a naturalization ceremony on June 14, 2016

Journalist Nellie Bowles of The New York Times has described the public persona and
personality of Bezos as that of "a brilliant but mysterious and coldblooded
corporate titan".[132] During the 1990s, Bezos earned a reputation for relentlessly
pushing Amazon forward, often at the expense of public charity and social welfare.
[132][133] Journalist Mark O'Connell criticized Bezos's relentless customer focus
as "very small" in terms of impact on humanity as a whole,[134] a sentiment
technologist Tim O'Reilly agreed with.[135] His business practices projected a
public image of prudence and parsimony with his own wealth and that of Amazon.
Bezos was a multi-billionaire who drove a 1996 Honda Accord.[136] Throughout the
early 2000s, he was perceived to be geeky or nerdy.[137][138][139]

Bezos was seen by some as needlessly quantitative and data-driven.[140][141] This

perception was detailed by Alan Deutschman, who described him as "talking in lists"
and "[enumerating] the criteria, in order of importance, for every decision he has
made."[137] Select accounts of his persona have drawn controversy and public
attention. Notably, journalist Brad Stone wrote a book that described Bezos as a
demanding boss as well as hyper-competitive,[133][140] and opined that Bezos
perhaps "bet the biggest on the Internet" than anyone else.[142] Bezos has been
characterized as a notoriously opportunistic CEO who operates with little concern
for obstacles and externalities.[143][144]

During the early 2010s, Bezos solidified his reputation for aggressive business
practices, and his public image began to shift. Bezos started to wear tailored
clothing; he weight trained, pursued a regimented diet and began to freely spend
his money.[145] His physical transformation has been compared to the transformation
of Amazon; he is often referred to as the metonym of the company.[146][147] His
physical appearance increased the public's perception of him as a symbolically
dominant figure in business and in popular culture, wherein he has been parodied as
an enterprising supervillain.[148][149][150] Since 2017, he has been portrayed by
Kyle Mooney and Steve Carell on Saturday Night Live, usually as an undercutting,
domineering figure.[151][better source needed] In May 2014, the International Trade
Union Confederation named Bezos the "World's Worst Boss", with its general
secretary Sharan Burrow saying: "Jeff Bezos represents the inhumanity of employers
who are promoting the North American corporate model",[152] while in 2019, Harvard
Business Review, which ranked Bezos the best-performing CEO for 4 years in a row
since 2014, did not rank him even in the top 100, citing Amazon's "relatively low
ESG (environment, social, and governance) scores" that reflect "risks created by
working conditions and employment policies, data security, and antitrust
issues."[153]

During the late 2010s, Bezos reversed his reputation for being reluctant to spend
money on non-business-related expenses.[24] His relative lack of philanthropy
compared to other billionaires has drawn a negative response from the public since
2016.[154][24] Bezos has been known to publicly contest claims made in critical
articles, as exemplified in 2015 when he sent a memo to employees denouncing a New
York Times piece.[155][156]

Leadership style
"Day 1" Management Philosophy
Day 1: start up
Day 2: stasis
Day 3: irrelevance
Day 4: "excruciating, painful decline"
Day 5: death

Bezos has stated "it is always Day 1" to describe his growth mindset.[157][158]
Bezos used what he called a "regret-minimization framework" while he worked at D.
E. Shaw and again during the early years of Amazon. He described this life
philosophy by stating: "When I'm 80, am I going to regret leaving Wall Street? No.
Will I regret missing the beginning of the Internet? Yes."[159] During the 1990s
and early 2000s at Amazon, he was characterized as trying to quantify all aspects
of running the company, often listing employees on spreadsheets and basing
executive decisions on data.[35] To push Amazon forward, Bezos developed the mantra
"Get Big Fast", establishing the company's need to scale its operations to produce
market dominance.[47] He favored diverting Amazon profits back into the company in
lieu of allocating it amongst shareholders in the form of dividends.[137]

Bezos uses the term "work–life harmony" instead of the more standard "work–life
balance" because he believes that balance implies that you can only have one and
not the other. He believes that work and home life are interconnected, informing
and calibrating each other.[160] Journalist Walt Mossberg dubbed the idea that
someone who cannot tolerate criticism or critique shouldn't do anything new or
interesting "The Bezos Principle".[161] Bezos does not schedule early morning
meetings and enforces a two-pizza rule—a preference that meetings are small enough
for two pizzas to feed everyone in the boardroom.[162] When interviewing candidates
for jobs at Amazon, he has stated he considers three inquiries: can he admire the
person, can the person raise the common standard, and under what circumstances
could the person become exemplary.[163]

He meets with Amazon investors for a total of only six hours a year.[162] Instead
of using presentation slides, Bezos requires high-level employees to present
information with six-page narratives.[164] Starting in 1998, Bezos publishes an
annual letter for Amazon shareholders wherein he frequently refers to five
principles: focus on customers, not competitors; take risks for market leadership;
facilitate staff morale; build a company culture; and empower people.[165][166]
Bezos maintains the email address jeff@amazon.com[167] as an outlet for customers
to reach out to him and the company. Although he does not respond to the emails, he
forwards some of them with a question mark in the subject line to executives who
attempt to address the issues.[168] Bezos has cited Jeff Immelt (of New Enterprise
Associates),[169] Warren Buffett (of Berkshire Hathaway), Jamie Dimon (of JPMorgan
Chase), and Bob Iger (of Walt Disney) as major influences on his leadership style.
[169][170]

Recognition
In 1999, Bezos received his first major award when Time named him Person of the
Year.[171]
In 2008, he was selected by U.S. News & World Report as one of America's best
leaders.[172]
Bezos was awarded an honorary doctorate in science and technology from Carnegie
Mellon University in 2008.[173]
In 2011, The Economist gave Bezos and Gregg Zehr an Innovation Award for the Amazon
Kindle.[174]
In 2012, Bezos was named Businessperson of the Year by Fortune.[175]