Amazon releases quarterly earnings – down, but that’s because it’s spending so much on expansion. I found it interesting that they added 5,300 jobs, bringing their headcount to 43,000 os, up from 28,000 just last year. If I recall the Amazon story correctly, its founder Jeff Bezos and his wife drove a car cross-country to Seattle back in the (90s?) to start their company. From 2 unemployed entrepreneurs to 43,000 is pretty impressive.
UPDATE: I had it about right – the year was 1995. Here’s his biography.
For What It's Worth 
Oh, but I thought this is how jobs are created: runaway trains:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903999904576469984031839852.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLE_Video_Top
Maybe they can hire the Borders Books employees who lost their jobs.
Boy, its a shame that Obama’s job killing Socialist policies have ruined such a great company.
Our economic illiteracy, shared by both political parties, guarantees that the real mechanism for job creation – the start up and growth phase funding of new businesses – is never properly recognized in our society. For 30 years ALL of the net new job creation in America has come from small and medium size businesses. Like it or not, venture capitalists, private equity investors, and yes, even big bank lenders, are the major creators of new jobs in our (fading) free enterpise system. The entrepreneurs and equity investors in these companies take enormous financial risks and personal risks and the odds of success for any one investment are small. Since capital can now move freely to any market, more of our job creating risk capital is increasingly moving to high growth, investor friendly emerging markets which reward people who take risk in order to earn commensurate returns. A society where 47% of families pay no taxes but receive transfer payments via the government tax machine conduit of the earnings of productive taxpayers, is doomed to failure.
And for those naysayers that taxes don’t influence businesses/job growth….Bezos purposely chose WA because of its a no income tax state.
Chris:
Nice Bio, like almost everyone I know my Amazon experiences have been excellent. Now I know why. Ten percent inspiration, ninety perspiration as they say. Only in America.
Best,
John
What is going on with this blog? The infrequent updates of the past two days are driving me mad (like you!!). Have you decided to ditch the blog to catch up on 10 years of missed tv?
Bezos was also one of the 4 “founding investors” (as opposed to founders) in Google! (more of his billions come from his Google shares than from Amazon.)
So what’s your point, Riverside. Sounds like Bezos created even more jobs by helping Google (also started with just two guys) get off the ground and create what, another 100,000 jobs?
What’s really interesting, or sad, is that he has said he could never do it in today’s political climate. Same goes for the Fedex guy.
Land of opportunities? Only for politicians, government workers and unions.
Now any of you liberals please explain to me how this is not Socialism.
al gore?
on no wait he invented the internet
and thank you Oprah for having Bezos on over 2 years ago discussing the Kindle. And thank you my lovely wife for telling us to buy Amazon stock after that show!
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/12/19/news/milford/doc4b2cb995d8d63171455870.txt
Speaking of jobs…Jeff Immelt, Obama’s advisor on his Jobs Comm announced that GE’s health care unit, the world’s biggest maker of medical imaging machines, is moving the headquarters of its 115-year-old X-ray business to Beijing. What a slap in the face in addition to paying no taxes. Another hypocritical lib.
Speaking of hypocritical libs, Soros is closing his fund to outsiders so he is not subject to the Dodd-Frank regulations.
I can only laugh.
I heard that Amazon was actually Al Gore’s idea.
That was my point! The guy’s a genius (I do credit him for a major assist at Google – seeing the potential and investing in it).