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It appears to be the season for publishing many words about Jeff Bezos and Amazon.
— As we highlighted on Friday, the estimable Charles Duhigg has published this fluid opus in The New Yorker that traces Amazon’s rise from process-oriented business model innovator to too-powerful behemoth.
— The less fluid but equally forceful Ben Thompson weighed in last month with a flip-flopper. It wondered, on the one hand, if Amazon has settled into the sclerotic and profit-chiseling ways of all big companies and, on the other, if its massive investment in one-day delivery proves Amazon remains as wonderfully crazy as ever.
— Then Franklin Foer published the latest cover story in The Atlantic, “Jeff Bezos’s Master Plan,” which I confess remains on my to-read list.
Amazon is so compelling because it is so unique. The company occupies that rare space in business history, the creator of multiple mega-hits. There’s the retail store itself, the category-defining cloud services business, the eBay-neutering third-party distribution business, and a bevy of further contenders for product greatness, including Prime delivery and streaming, the Kindle, and Alexa-enabled Echo devices. Amazonians speak a language of their own, one that pretends competitors don’t matter—customers are everything.
Then there’s Bezos, the once-in-a-generation entrepreneur and business titan who lately is showing he is as flawed as any human.
The betting seems to be that Amazon’s success can’t help but bite it in the rear one day. The question is when that day will come.
***
Speaking of really long articles, check out this exhaustively reported profile of Jack Dorsey, the Twitter and Square CEO, by former Fortune stalwart Roger Parloff … Columbia’s Tim Wu recently published this smart op-ed about artificial intelligence. Much as Anand Giridharadas has argued persuasively that philanthropists and corporations alone can’t begin to solve the world’s most intractable problems at a scale that government can, Wu argues that Silicon Valley, impressive though its applied A.I. research is, can’t possibly match the all-out, government-plus-industry approach China is taking … A book recommendation: I just finished “The Parisian,” a beautiful historical novel by Isabella Hammad about the lives of century-ago Palestinians. It’s a fresh perspective and a welcome one … Finally, Fortune has just published a new list, the 10 Best Large Workplaces in Manufacturing and Production.
Adam Lashinsky
On Twitter: @adamlashinsky
Email: adam_lashinsky@fortune.com
This edition of Data Sheet was curated by Aaron Pressman.
NEWSWORTHY
Looking for spare change between the seat cushions. In the latest episode of As the WeWork Turns, still-a-billionaire Masayoshi Son may bail out and take control of the troubled real estate startup founded by no-longer-a-billionaire Adam Neumann. The bailout package from Son's SoftBank Group could be rendered unnecessary by a $5 billion debt deal being assembled by JPMorgan Chase, however.
King of the world. The teeter-totter title of world's most valuable public company shifted back to Apple from Microsoft, as of Friday. The iPhone maker closed with a stock market value of $1.067 trillion versus a mere $1.066 trillion for the software giant from Redmond.
Unencrypted. The future of money may have lost a few adherents. Facebook's coalition to create the Libra digital currency lost some prominent members on Friday, including Visa, Mastercard, eBay, and Stripe. "Although the makeup of the Association members may grow and change over time...the Libra payment network will remain resilient," Facebook said.
Who will watch the watchers? The increased scrutiny of tech giants has landed Google's $2.6 billion deal to buy data analytics startup Looker Data Sciences in a spot of trouble. Antitrust regulators are taking a hard look at whether to allow the transaction, Bloomberg reports. In further deal news, private equity firm Thoma Bravo is buying cybersecurity company Sophos for almost $4 billion including net debt.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Ever since Bill Gates was mentioned in some of the Jeffrey Epstein emails from MIT, I have been dreading the next revelation about this ugly scandal. If you, like me, enjoyed the recent three-part Netflix documentary Inside Bill's Brain, you've no doubt come to admire the Microsoft co-founder for his impressive philanthropic efforts. But now come the almost inevitable further revelations. New York Times reporter Emily Flitter and columnist James Stewart document in great detail the connections and visits between our billionaire hero and the now-deceased villain. It's a tough read.
“His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me,” Mr. Gates emailed colleagues in 2011, after his first get-together with Mr. Epstein.
Bridgitt Arnold, a spokeswoman for Mr. Gates, said he “was referring only to the unique décor of the Epstein residence — and Epstein’s habit of spontaneously bringing acquaintances in to meet Mr. Gates.”
“It was in no way meant to convey a sense of interest or approval,” she said.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Now Hiring: People Who Can Translate Data Into Stories and Actions By Anne Fisher
Meet the Venture Capitalist Whose Childhood in Communist Bulgaria Led Her to Embrace Silicon Valley By Polina Marinova
Inside JP Morgan, Moving On From WeWork is Proving to Be a Messy Proposition By Rey Mashayekhi
Apple Card’s Newest Benefit: Relief for Natural Disaster Victims By Lisa Marie Segarra
Is A.I. a Trillion-Dollar Growth Engine or a Jobs-Killer? There’s Reason for Optimism By Bernhard Warner
The U.K.’s Public Health Center for Gaming Disorders Marks a New Era in Fighting Tech Addiction By Phil Boucher
For Big Gig Economy Companies, California Is No Longer a Golden State By Mike Hofman
BEFORE YOU GO
Fans of beautiful architecture and/or beautiful libraries should check out the new book The Public Library: A Photographic Essay by photographer Robert Dawson. Maria Popova wrote a review and paean to the public library that's also worth a read.
Aaron Pressman
On Twitter:@ampressman
Email: aaron.pressman@fortune.com
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