A new Bloomberg report says that Amazon’s HQ2 fiasco was driven by Jeff Bezos’ envy of Elon Musk but there’s more to it…
In business there are no permanent friends or foes – it’s just ‘competitive spirit.’ Over the course of history, we’ve seen business rivalry shaping industries. The nearly two decades old LVMH-Kering rivalry has shaped the luxury sector today as we know it.
Back in 2001 LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault was beaten by Kering founder Francois Pinault for control of luxury brand Gucci. Since then, both the giants have made acquiring the bigger market share the crux of the rivalry. Stretching up until the race to consolidate and acquire luxury brands like Tiffany and Moncler last year.
The Tech Rivalry Of The 20th Century
Another good example would be the technology giant Steve Jobs and Bill Gates’ love and hate relationship. Jobs was a much better marketer than Gates was but couldn’t code whereas Gates could – he was bloody good at it. American business news website, Business Insider, once reported “Bill Gates and Steve Jobs never quite got along.
Over the course of 30-plus years, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs went from cautious allies to bitter rivals to something almost approaching friends — sometimes, they were all three at the same time.”
Over the course of 30-plus years, the two went from cautious allies to bitter rivals to something almost approaching friends — sometimes, they were all three at the same time.” But in all reality, Apple couldn’t have made it without Microsoft and vice versa.
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Businessmen Who Take Competition To Another Level
And then there are always some businessmen who take the competition to another level. Amazon and Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, owner of SpaceX and Tesla are no different.
Back in 2014 when Elon Musk secured $1.3 billion from Nevada to open a gigantic battery plant, Jeff Bezos took a note. A thought that made Bezos determined to try something similar.
Come 2017, Amazon baited 50000 new jobs and $5-billion in exchange of government handouts in North American cities for its new Head Quarter touted as “HQ2.”
Cut to 2020, Amazon on Thursday cancelled its plans to build an expansive corporate campus in New York City after facing unexpected backlash. In a statement, they said, “A number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward.” State lawmakers, progressive activists, and union leaders argued that a tech giant did not deserve nearly $3 billion in government incentives.
Why Jeff Bezos Spites Elon Musk?
The plan didn’t go as well as it did for Musk! In a nutshell, Amazon couldn’t court the New York politicians. For the first time, Amazon’s team became the victim of its own pomposity.
Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk’s public shade, twitter spats and digs at each other in public spaces have seen a steady increase in the last couple of years. But all wasn’t like this… they have had dinner together before. Their disagreement stems from their perusal of space missions, reusable rockets, next-generation spacecraft, and to colonize mars.
Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk’s public shade, twitter spats and digs at each other in public spaces have seen a steady increase in the last couple of years.
When all is done now, maybe Jeff Bezos can take a lesson from Bill Gates. When Apple introduced iTunes, Gates had sent an internal email to Microsoft employees stating, “Steve Jobs’ ability to focus in on a few things that count, get people who get user interface right and market things as revolutionary are amazing things.”
At one point in their career, Gates and Jobs couldn’t see eye to eye but the drive to innovate and excel in their pursuits kept their mutual admiration alive.
Or in simpler millennial terms — Jeff, Create Don’t Hate.
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