For years, Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos has meticulously crafted his public image, largely shunning the spotlight while carefully making donations that only hint at his political agenda, The Wall Street Journal reports.
But over the past week, the billionaire has been cast into the limelight thanks to a string of attacks by President Donald Trump. Mr. Bezos’s response? The silent treatment.
In six tweets over a week, Trump lashed out at Amazon repeatedly over taxes, its use of the U.S. Postal Service and its effect on other retailers. He also called the Washington Post, which Bezos owns personally, a lobbying arm. He criticized Amazon at a press conference on Tuesday, too, and aboard Air Force One on Thursday.
The tweets and remarks stem largely from Trump’s growing unhappiness with coverage of his administration by the Washington Post as well as with its owner, say the president’s advisers and people close to the White House.
Bezos, the world’s richest man, has ignored the president’s attacks. He has stayed out of the public eye since Trump’s tweets started last week, only tweeting once to send condolences regarding the recent shooting at YouTube’s headquarters.
Bezos made comments critical of Trump before the election, but he has refrained from public criticism since Trump was elected. That strategy, people familiar with this thinking say, fits in with his deeply held conviction in playing the long game.
An Amazon spokesman and the White House both declined to comment to The Wall Street Journal, which has the full story (subscription may be required).
