When Jeff Bezos was chief government of Amazon, he took an arms-length stance towards the corporate’s affairs in Washington. He hardly ever lobbied lawmakers. He testified solely as soon as earlier than Congress, beneath the specter of subpoena.
Andy Jassy, Mr. Bezos’ successor, is attempting a special method.
Since turning into Amazon’s chief government final July, Mr. Jassy, 54, has visited Washington a minimum of 3 times to traverse Capitol Hill and go to the White Home. In September, he met with Ron Klain, President Biden’s chief of employees. He has known as Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic majority chief, to foyer towards antitrust laws and talked with Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, about Amazon’s new company campus within the state.
“He was very inquisitive,” mentioned Mr. Kaine, who met with Mr. Jassy on the Capitol in September and spoke with him by telephone final month. Mr. Jassy was diplomatic slightly than out to “bowl you over” by “power of character,” Mr. Kaine mentioned, and got here ready with information of the lawmaker’s committee assignments.
Mr. Jassy’s actions in Washington are an indication of a brand new period taking form at Amazon. The chief, who joined the corporate in 1997 and constructed its Amazon Net Companies cloud computing enterprise, adopted Mr. Bezos’ footsteps for years and was considered as one in all his closest lieutenants. The succession final 12 months was largely seen as a continuation of Mr. Bezos’ tradition and strategies.
However Mr. Jassy has quietly put his personal imprint on Amazon, making extra adjustments than many insiders and firm watchers anticipated.
He has drilled into key elements of the enterprise that Mr. Bezos pushed off onto deputies, particularly the logistics operations. He has admitted that Amazon overbuilt and wanted to chop prices, closing its bodily bookstores and placing some warehouse growth plans on ice. He has began a tumultuous overhaul of management. And whereas he has reiterated the corporate’s opposition to unions, he has additionally struck a extra conciliatory tone with Amazon’s 1.6 million staff.
The starkest distinction with Mr. Bezos will be the new chief government’s way more hands-on method to regulatory and political challenges in Washington.
Mr. Jassy has engaged extra with the scrutiny on Amazon’s broader function as an employer and in society, past serving prospects, mentioned Matt McIlwain, a managing associate at Seattle’s Madrona Enterprise Group, which was an early investor within the firm.
“I feel these sorts of issues do matter extra to Andy,” mentioned Mr. McIlwain, who has recognized Mr. Bezos and Mr. Jassy for greater than twenty years. “Jeff has extra of a libertarian mind-set.”
Mr. Jassy’s efforts could also be born of necessity. Political leaders, activists and teachers are taking a more in-depth take a look at Amazon due to its dominance. The corporate has responded by increasing its lobbying equipment in Washington, spending $19.3 million on federal lobbying in 2021, in contrast with $2.2 million a decade earlier, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks affect in Washington.
Perceive the Unionization Efforts at Amazon
Its challenges are mounting. The Federal Commerce Fee, which is led by the authorized scholar Lina Khan, is investigating whether or not Amazon violated antitrust legal guidelines. Final 12 months, Mr. Biden threw his assist behind Amazon staff who have been attempting to unionize; he has since hosted a union organizer from an Amazon warehouse within the Oval Workplace. And Congress could vote quickly on an antitrust invoice that might make it harder for Amazon to favor its personal manufacturers over these supplied by opponents on its web site.
An Amazon spokeswoman, Tina Pelkey, pointed to a previous company statement that mentioned Mr. Jassy “meets with policymakers on each side of the aisle concerning coverage points that might have an effect on our prospects.” The corporate declined to make Mr. Jassy obtainable for an interview.
Mr. Bezos’ ambitions in Washington was largely social. His possession of The Washington Submit introduced him to the town, the place he purchased a mansion within the Kalorama neighborhood. However Amazon’s Washington workplace employees typically didn’t know when he was on the town. An Amazon workforce led by Jay Carney, a former White Home press secretary, fought to insulate Mr. Bezos from the corporate’s critics.
Mr. Jassy — who was within the Republican Membership as an undergraduate at Harvard and has donated lately to business-friendly Democrats — made serving to Amazon navigate the regulatory panorama a precedence proper out of the gate. After Mr. Bezos introduced that he was stepping down as Amazon’s chief final 12 months, Mr. Jassy summoned a gaggle of firm executives for a briefing on the antitrust battle, two folks with information of the gathering mentioned.
In August, Mr. Jassy appeared at a White Home summit on cybersecurity. In September, he crisscrossed Capitol Hill to satisfy with all 4 members of congressional management. He additionally known as on Democratic senators from Washington State, the place Amazon has its headquarters, and a Republican senator from Tennessee, the place the corporate has expanded its logistics operations.
Some Democrats pushed Mr. Jassy to let Amazon staff unionize and resist state abortion restrictions, mentioned an individual with information of the conversations, which have been reported earlier by Politico. Consultant Kevin McCarthy, the Republican chief, instructed Mr. Jassy to give attention to constructing merchandise and to remain out of contentious political and social points, an individual with information of the assembly mentioned.
A spokesman for Mr. McCarthy declined to touch upon the assembly.
That very same week, Mr. Jassy met with Mr. Klain on the White Home, two folks with information of the assembly mentioned. They mentioned the state of the economic system and different points, one of many folks mentioned.
A White Home official mentioned Mr. Klain usually met with chief executives and labor leaders, principally by telephone however typically in individual.
Amazon’s most instant regulatory risk is the proposed American Innovation and Alternative On-line Act, which might cease giant digital platforms from giving their very own merchandise preferential remedy.
One of many invoice’s Democratic co-sponsors, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, met with Mr. Jassy in Washington in December and mentioned China’s affect over expertise. In one other assembly this 12 months in Seattle, Mr. Warner mentioned, he instructed Mr. Jassy that he was involved about how Amazon might copy the merchandise of retailers that used its web site.
Mr. Jassy is “going to be someone who will in all probability be extra engaged in these coverage disputes with D.C. than Bezos was as founder,” Mr. Warner mentioned.
Amazon has opposed the laws, arguing that the corporate already helps the small companies promoting merchandise on its web site. It has mentioned that if the invoice passes, it might be compelled to desert the promise of fast supply on the coronary heart of its Prime subscription service. Senator Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Democrat behind the invoice, has known as the concept that it might “outlaw” Amazon Prime a “lie.”
Mr. Jassy has additionally mentioned Amazon’s opposition to antitrust proposals with lawmakers and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, whom he knew from attending Harvard on the identical time, folks accustomed to the matter mentioned. Mr. Jassy instructed Ms. Raimondo about Amazon’s considerations with new antitrust rules in Europe that it believes unfairly goal its enterprise, one of many folks mentioned. Ms. Raimondo has criticized the European legal guidelines, saying they’ve a disproportionate influence on U.S. tech corporations.
A Commerce Division spokeswoman mentioned Ms. Raimondo supported the proposed U.S. antitrust laws and had spoken with Mr. Jassy. The spokeswoman declined to touch upon their conversations. When Mr. Jassy known as to foyer Mr. Schumer, Mr. Schumer mentioned he supported the antitrust invoice, an individual accustomed to their name mentioned.
As Amazon faces the potential of a federal antitrust lawsuit and continued skepticism of its energy, Mr. Jassy could also be a potent advocate for the corporate, mentioned Daniel Auble, a senior researcher at OpenSecrets.
“Not many lobbyists would be capable to sit down with — and even get a name with — a lot of the members of congressional management in any respect,” he mentioned. “However in fact the C.E.O. of Amazon can get all of them on the telephone.”
