Jeff Bezos’ Amazon legacy by the numbers

After 26 years and $1.7 trillion dollars, Jeff Bezos’ time as CEO of Amazon is coming to an end. 

The person who broke records as the richest person the world had ever seen (though he currently sits in the number two spot, behind Elon Musk), Bezos announced in a blog post Tuesday that he would be stepping down from his CEO role later in 2021. Current head of Amazon Web Services Andy Jassy will be taking over, though Bezos will still reign as the Executive Chair of the Amazon Board.

Bezos is a polarizing figure, to say the least. He embodies the world’s endemic income inequality, is notoriously ruthless in business dealings and in the treatment of Amazon employees, became powerful by crushing first book stores, then brick-and-mortar businesses overall, and has just an incredibly irritating face. 

At the same time, Americans make an estimated half of all of their online purchases through Amazon, and the ability to get something you need almost instantaneously for cheap is undeniably convenient. 

So how do you measure a CEO? The current value of all Amazon stock is $1.7 trillion. But imagining 1.7 trillion anythings is impossible, as is conceptualizing the amount of money Bezos has amassed for himself and Amazon’s shareholders. 

Nevertheless, we’ll let some numbers do the talking. Here are a few stats that tell the story of Jeff Bezos’ rise and the people and institutions he crushed to get there.

Dizzying profits, terrible costs

$194 billion: Jeff Bezos’ personal net worth as of this writing. His wealth is tied to Amazon, so the more valuable Amazon stock is, the richer Bezos is. 

$386 billion: Amazon annual revenue for 2020.

465 million: Pounds of plastic waste generated by Amazon in 2019 as estimated by nonprofit environmental organization Oceana. Amazon claims this number is inflated, and that it merely generated 119 million pounds of plastic waste.

7.7: The amount of warehouse workers per 100 who had serious work-related injuries in 2019 according to internal documents obtained by Reveal. This is nearly double the industry standard.

Wealth disparity

$13 million/hour: Jeff Bezos’ approximate hourly wage, extrapolated from how much money he makes per year. 

$15/hour: Amazon worker hourly minimum wage. Some hailed Amazon for standardizing this minimum wage, while some workers worried that changes to benefits, overtime, and bonuses would actually mean they would earn less. Amazon is one of the top employers of people who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

Dominance

5: Number of antitrust investigations Amazon is facing around the world. The U.S., Canada, the E.U., and citizens in India are all challenging Amazon over its monopoly power.

6,000: Number of warehouse workers in Alabama set to vote on unionizing. Amazon has reportedly pursued union-busting tactics, and has been accused of retaliating against workers who organize for better conditions, pay, and say in the company.

Surveillance Pays

$1 billion: Money spent to acquire Ring.

2,014: Number of fire and police departments across the country tapping into Ring devices and neighborhood reports for surveillance.

Jeff gonna Jeff

1: Dick pics nearly exposed.

6: Abs. Goodnight Jeff, you swole capitalist, you self-serving plutocrat, you.