Found this article by Jackie Wattles for CNN.com:
Jeff Bezos Is $5 Billion Away From Being World’s Richest Person
Jeff Bezos, for those who have been living under a rock or in some very deep cave for the past couple of decades, is the founder and owner of Amazon.com. Over the weekend it was announced he was buying Whole Foods, making his empire even larger.
I’ve followed Amazon.com for quite a while and I think its success beautifully displays the old cliche/adage of “build a better mousetrap”.
What started as a website devoted to selling books online has grown into a website that sells you almost everything you need. It also sports a robust tech division, complete with tablets and echo machines.
I love amazon.com. I very much love the ability to get almost any book (of late, usually digitally) and music I want instantaneously. I’ve ordered other things through amazon, including home goods and even foods.
I have a very personal reason to love amazon, as well. If it wasn’t for the company, I’d probably never have written all the novels I have.
As far back as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a writer. But it was difficult to get anything published. While I sent out hundreds of submissions and got varying levels of interest, there was no point where I was able to take the proverbial “next step”.
Years later I managed to work for an independent comic book company but this started as an artist job, inking specifically, before I was able to do what I really wanted to do, which was write.
With amazon, I was able to finally get my novels out there and for that alone, I can’t feel negative about them.
So, yes, I have a very personal stake in amazon and its continuing success.
On the other hand…
I’m uncomfortable with the idea of this one company, as good as it is at what it does, becoming as large as it is.
Capitalism works best, in my opinion, when there is direct competition between companies and with each passing year and with each purchase amazon makes, it feels like no company is coming close to them. My fear, therefore, is that soon too much of the economy and our individual purchases will pass through them alone and, once that happens, we’ll have to take whatever they give us… good or bad.
Perhaps I shouldn’t worry as much.
Perhaps.