Speaker 1: We have been employees of Amazon for like a week,
Speaker 1: but they had still not told us anything. They said, no,
Speaker 1: we have to tell you in a closed room. So
Speaker 1: we all got in the room together. They closed the door,
Speaker 1: locked the door, put paper over the window in the door.
Speaker 1: It was very hush hush, and then they said, imagine
Speaker 1: something the size of a coke can and people will
Speaker 1: be able to talk to it. And we thought, the
Speaker 1: technology isn't there yet, it doesn't exist yet. Jeff Bezos
Speaker 1: wants to be seen as an inventor. We love to invent,
Speaker 1: We loved to pioneer. We even like going down alleys
Speaker 1: that turn out to be blind allies. He wants Amazon
Speaker 1: to be seen as an innovator. Talk to us about
Speaker 1: that fulfillment center. I don't see too many humans. Help
Speaker 1: us understand the amount of robots you have versus the
Speaker 1: amount of people you employ. A tech giant that drives
Speaker 1: social and technological change. I was like, Okay, this is amazing.
Speaker 1: This is clearly an important moment technology. I was funnish, Right,
Speaker 1: how the hell did they do that? And by all accounts,
Speaker 1: Bezos got everything he wished for this. There's like no comparison,
Speaker 1: said Jeff Bezos is actually the richest person in modern histories,
Speaker 1: and in terms of just ship billions being accumulated that
Speaker 1: there's really nothing in history to compare. But as Amazon
Speaker 1: grew and Beazos became wealthier and wealthier, something began to change.
Speaker 1: Amazon was ranked one of the twelve worst companies to
Speaker 1: work for, but many Amazon staffers say the demand for
Speaker 1: greater speed is the leading factor harming warehouse workers. Bezos
Speaker 1: became a target. They saw him as a villain, a
Speaker 1: ruthless capitalist. The pressure grew stronger and stronger. Protesters marched
Speaker 1: down thirty fourth Street intent to vent their anger at Amazon,
Speaker 1: and then Bezos made another surprising move. Jeff Bezos is
Speaker 1: stepping down. The announcement sent shock waves to the business
Speaker 1: and tech commune. And Hi, I'm your host, brad Stone.
Speaker 1: This season on Foundering will take you inside Amazon's quest
Speaker 1: for world domination. Amazon is no question one of the
Speaker 1: most spectacular business stories of our times, and Bezos is
Speaker 1: a visionary. But he never could have foreseen how dramatically
Speaker 1: Amazon and his personal wealth would change him and in
Speaker 1: the process, alter our modern society. Check us out Foundering,
Speaker 1: a podcast from Bloomberg Technology. Listen wherever you get your
Speaker 1: podcasts