Professor Scott Galloway on Amazon HQ2 and Why It’s Time to Break Up Big Tech

The most recent neon red flag of market failure is the beauty contest/shitshow that is Amazon HQ2.

A middle class desperate for oxygenation, an election cycle that favors short‑term thinking, and Amazon worship by consumers and investors have resulted in a frenzied pitch among municipalities that highlights the perversion of our nation at the hands of big tech.

So, Amazon announced the finalists. But not really. Toronto, you have no chance. Every ounce of energy you waste on this bid is abuse by the Seattle firm, hoping you’ll produce an irrational term sheet the city Amazon has already selected will be asked to match.

Bezos is smarter than the rest of us and smells a multiple on EBITDA contraction, via threat of regulation. He’d never spend this chit in a city with no representatives in Congress.

Dallas, Denver, Montgomery County, Indianapolis, Miami … you’re done. You have good universities, but not enough of them, and Amazon needs an Amazonian pipeline of the best and brightest to support its growth.

Scott Galloway: The Prediction I’m Most Proud Of

The X-factor here is where Jeff wants to spend more time. I’ve sat in several board meetings where the CEO cloaks their desire to spend more time in another city in a rational‑sounding strategy to move the firm’s HQ. The new HQ will be where Jeff wants to spend more time. My bet is the NYC metro area, but I’m projecting my own preferences on Mr. and Ms. Bezos - don’t know them or where they want to roll.

The real downer is the hunger games beauty contest will result in a soaking of taxpayers. Chicago has offered to let Amazon keep payroll taxes, saying, in effect: We give up, you are now the government. Amazon already knows where they want to be.

Instead of reaching out to that municipality and getting a great deal, they want a stupid (for taxpayers) deal and are fostering a reality‑TV‑meets‑government circus.

The lack of concern for our commonwealth is disappointing. Really disappointing.

So, as I want to learn from the best-performing entity in the world … I’m announcing a contest to decide which big tech firm should be broken up first.

The finalists are Facebook and Amazon, who both prioritize shareholders over the condition of our souls, or the country’s prosperity.

I know who the winner is, but will foment a false contest that dominates the media, crowding out stories on other firms, and will ask each firm to waste time and resources, so I can transfer value from taxpayers to my pocket.

Let the games begin…

Source: L2

The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google

Related Papers

The eCommerce Challenge
Most of today’s retailers and their supply chain advisors understand the shift in retail sales to the online channel but, for many years, the inclusion of gasoline, groceries, and automobile sales in U.S. retail sales numbers masked the true extent of eCommerce penetration. Download Now!

Amazon’s Move into Delivery Logistics
Many industry players and experts are waiting anxiously to see what innovations Amazon will come up with next – and above all, whether Amazon will enter into delivery logistics under its own banner. Download Now!

Amazon’s Stranglehold
This report aims to pull back Amazon’s cloak of invisibility, it shows how the company’s tightening grip is stifling competition, eroding jobs, and threatening communities - it presents new data; draws on interviews with dozens of manufacturers, retailers, and others. Download Now!

Chasing Amazon: Building a Dynamic Warehouse Network
Most of Amazon’s competitors are feverishly playing catch-up, and if your company is among them, reassessing your supply chain design, particularly pricing and quick delivery, is a good place to start. Download Now!

Search: Amazon White Papers