Amazon

Amazon’s management is strong, with a culture deeply rooted in long-term thinking and operational excellence. Founder Jeff Bezos set the tone from the beginning with the “Day 1” philosophy – focusing on customer obsession, innovation, and patience for investments to pay off.

Under his leadership, Amazon made bold, contrarian decisions (like building AWS, or prioritizing growth over profits) that proved visionary. Bezos has transitioned out of the CEO role (he remains Executive Chairman and the largest shareholder), but his influence on the company’s direction and culture persists.

The current CEO, Andy Jassy, is a 26-year Amazon veteran who previously built and ran AWS, demonstrating his execution capability and strategic acumen. Jassy has a strong track record in scaling AWS into the cloud leader, and he was hand-picked by Bezos – suggesting continuity of Amazon’s core values.

Since taking the helm, Jassy has navigated a challenging macro environment (post-pandemic slowdown, high inflation) by making tough decisions to streamline costs while still investing for growth.

He oversaw a necessary retrenchment in 2022–2023, including workforce reductions and a major efficiency revamp of Amazon’s fulfillment network into regionally optimized centers, which has cut costs and improved delivery times. This indicates a pragmatic management approach to operational issues.

At the same time, Jassy is firmly positioning Amazon for the future – he has highlighted the importance of AI across the company and directed multi-billion-dollar investments into AI innovations (like the Anthropic partnership) to ensure Amazon stays competitive. This balance of cost discipline and forward investment speaks well of his leadership.

Importantly, management’s interests are largely aligned with shareholders. Bezos still owns around 10% of Amazon, meaning the founder’s skin in the game is significant even if he’s not CEO. Jassy and other top executives are heavily compensated in stock, which vests over time, incentivizing them to increase long-term share value.

The company’s board is experienced and has not interfered with Amazon’s long-term orientation. There have been some critiques – for example, Amazon’s workplace practices and the late 2022 inventory over-expansion – but overall the leadership team has shown adaptability and competence in addressing issues.

Given Amazon’s size and complexity, the execution has been impressive: the company rarely misses a beat in product launches, infrastructure expansion, or strategic pivots.

We rate management highly for their proven ability to allocate resources wisely, anticipate industry shifts, and maintain a strong corporate culture focused on innovation and customer satisfaction. The slight caveat is that the iconic founder is no longer in day-to-day charge, so Amazon now relies on a broader leadership bench.

So far, that bench – led by Jassy – appears to be up to the task of preserving Amazon’s exceptional legacy.