What happened
Is Jeff Bezos coming back to take the reins at Amazon (AMZN 3.56%) ?!
Well, not really. But it seems it might be an increasingly popular idea among the company’s rank-and-file, and on that potential groundswell Amazon stock closed Friday nearly 4% higher. That topped the S&P 500 index’s 2.3% gain on the day.
So what
The apparent Bezos love was reported by Business Insider on Friday. Citing messages on Amazon employee Slack channels, the business publication said that a clutch of workers are proposing that the company’s founder and long-serving CEO return to the latter position.
Bezos stepped down as CEO in July 2021. He was replaced in the position by Andy Jassy and is currently the executive chairman of the board of directors.
One Slack message cited by Business Insider linked to a CNBC interview with Ritholtz Wealth Management’s director of research Michael Blatnick. In that conversation, Blatnick speculated that Bezos would make such a return at some point this year.
Like other top-flight tech companies, Amazon recently announced cuts to its workforce. Some workers, the publication wrote, expressed significant discontent in their Slack messages with the way those cuts were communicated to employees.
Now what
Amazon employees are surely thinking of recent rock star CEO returns; notable examples of this are Bob Iger at Walt Disney and Howard Schultz’s second stint as barista-in-charge of Starbucks (although he’s only serving on an interim basis). Additionally, there are certainly more than a few examples of employee groundswells helping to bring back former leaders.
But such calls are to be expected at times of discontent and shouldn’t sway investor decisions to buy or sell a stock. We should also be aware that neither Amazon nor Bezos has commented on the article, or on those employee pronouncements.
John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Eric Volkman has positions in Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon.com, Starbucks, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2024 $145 calls on Walt Disney, short January 2023 $92.50 puts on Starbucks, and short January 2024 $155 calls on Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.