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An influential Wall Street analyst claims that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos could “do a Bob Iger” and return in 2023 to save his struggling e-commerce company as it battles declining revenue and massive layoffs.
Under the direction of Bezos’ successor, Andy Jassy, Amazon is currently experiencing a severe downturn, with shares falling 50% in 2022 alone. On Wednesday, Jassy confirmed that Amazon would eliminate more than 18,000 employees in the first quarter of this year, citing a “uncertain economy.”
Michael Batnick, managing partner of Ritholtz Wealth Management, recently floated a potential comeback in a blog post on his predictions for the upcoming year. Bezos, the founder of Amazon and the fifth-richest person in the world, may find it challenging to remain on the sidelines, according to Batnick. Iger, the recently reinstated Disney CEO, also found it difficult to stay on the sidelines.
After making his forecast, Batnick later told CNBC on Wednesday, “Jeff Bezos is an extraordinarily wealthy man who got a lot less money last year because the company he spent [his life developing] is hurting, big time.
“This has happened before. “I do think it’s feasible that he returns to the helm to calm the ship,” Batnick continued. “Bob Iger recently did this, [former Starbucks CEO] Howard Schultz has pulled this off numerous times. I’m not going to pound the table on this, but I do think it’s plausible.
When Iger, 71, abruptly took over as CEO of Disney in November, he stunned the corporate community. Iger fired Bob Chapek, his hand-picked successor, after he clashed with other business officials amid months of mediocre stock performance and poor management of a number of issues, including the controversy surrounding Florida’s divisive “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
A number of top officials, including Disney CFO Christine McCarthy, reportedly addressed the company’s board of directors to voice their complaints as worries about Chapek’s management reached an extraordinary level.
There are currently no indications that Jassy is dealing with a similar uprising at Amazon. As of 2021, Jassy served as CEO of Amazon.
Bezos has focused most of his time on managing the private space company Blue Origin after resigning as CEO. He hasn’t made any statements indicating that he wants to play a bigger role at Amazon.
As the company’s revenue growth halted last year, Amazon’s market value fell by a staggering $840 billion. In response to a general decline in the tech industry and indications that consumer spending has slowed in front of a probable economic crisis, Jassy has sought to reduce expenses.
The estimated decline in Bezos’ net wealth last year was a staggering $85 billion. According to Forbes, his wealth as of Thursday was estimated to be $107 billion.
According to the Wall Street Journal, 1.2% of Amazon’s 1.5 million employees worldwide will be affected by the layoffs. The majority of the layoffs will affect Amazon’s corporate division, which will lose 5% of its workforce.
Jassy wrote in a blog post, “Amazon has endured unpredictable and challenging economies in the past, and we will continue to do so. “With a stronger cost structure, these improvements will enable us to pursue our long-term opportunities.”
What do you think of that possible Jeff Bezos comeback? Please let us know in the comments.
