Call him Citizen Bezos.
With his surprise purchase of the Washington Post, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has become an instant media mogul with a potential soap box for airing his opinions on contentious issues such as taxes, labor and corporate monopolies.
Insiders speculated yesterday that the tax-hating tech tycoon had scooped up the legendary paper as his ever-expanding retail powerhouse braces for a slew of Walmart-style battles.
Bezos insisted he won’t meddle with the paper’s content, and has been relatively quiet on mainstream political issues. But his aggressive financial backing of gay-marriage lobbyists in Washington state last year showed he can throw his weight around.
It’s business where Bezos is likely focused, and his broad libertarian streak could make an odd fit for the left-leaning Washington Post.
“There are so many areas of commerce where he’s making his investments that you could end up with an editorial news policy that protects his interests and goes after the interests he opposes,” says Bert Foer, president of the American Antitrust Institute in Washington. “That is always the risk.”
Last month, Amazon prevailed over Apple in a federal antitrust suit over e-book pricing. But many were bewildered by the decision, based largely on concerns about pricing, as Amazon is the dominant player.
Meanwhile, the Amazon juggernaut has increasingly wreaked havoc on brick-and-mortar retailers. After driving the Borders chain out of business, Amazon has trained its sights on the likes of Best Buy, Toys “R” Us and even Target.
An “Occupy Amazon” movement surfaced in 2011 when the Seattle-based giant developed a smartphone app for shoppers to compare prices at stores with Amazon’s. Target stopped carrying Amazon’s Kindle e-readers after the incident.
Bezos also has squared off in the past against labor groups, who in 2011 blasted Amazon for working conditions at its distribution centers.
Last week, President Obama delivered a speech on job creation at an Amazon warehouse in Tennessee — an event that drew media attention to the low wages and lack of benefits for employees at the facility, most of whom are part-time.
Last month, Amazon hired a Washington lobbyist after years of fierce resistance to state sales taxes. Amazon is expected to try to minimize its liability as Congress takes up the question.