On Wednesday, Donald Trump met Silicon Valley titans in a bid to mend fences after both sides had openly proclaimed their contempt for each other during the election campaign.
Among the many executives he met, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos probably had the most disputabe relationship with president-elect Donald Trump. For Bezos and Trump in particular, the disputes have felt more personal at times. In the past, Bezos and Trump have not exactly seen eye to eye, so this first face-to-face meeting was surely meant to be awkward as hell.
Trump and Bezos had locked horns when Trump blacklisted The Washington Post, (which Bezos bought in 2013 ) and described Bezos’ ownership of the Post as a tax dodge. As a rebuttal, Jeff had said Trump’s behavior wasn’t fit for someone hoping to lead the country.
But surprisingly, the two gentlemen softening their stands, decided to bury the hatchet during the meeting. Now that Trump is president-elect, Bezos adopted a more sober tone measuring his words carefully.
Calling the meeting ‘productive’, Bezos said in a statement that he “shared the view that the administration should make innovation one of its key pillars, which would create a huge number of jobs across the whole country, in all sectors, not just tech – agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing -everywhere.”
So why did Jeff Bezos make nice with Trump?
Because Amazon depends on it and Trump undoubtedly has the power to hurt Amazon. For starters, if the contentious relationship between them continues, Trump administration could really give Amazon a headache- from taxes to anti-trust.
Also, Amazon’s business interests are very much dependent on government policies, like sales tax, net neutrality, immigration, and shipping.
So, as a wise businessman, Benzos thought it better to concede than to bicker and blabber. That was evident enough when Bezos had congratulated Donald Trump after his presidential win. ‘
And now with a ‘productive’ meeting, Bezos can certainly breathe a sigh of relief.