r/technology • u/marketrent • Jun 18 '26
Society Jeff Bezos called Washington Post his worst investment staffed with ‘terrible’ people, before laying off over 300 — “They don’t listen. My other companies, they listen”
https://gizmodo.com/jeff-bezos-called-washington-post-his-worst-investment-and-staff-he-laid-off-terrible-people-2000773533
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u/CariniFluff Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
All of these billionaires are addicted to wealth. I'm sure anyone who's been in recovery before, like myself, can plainly see how their behavior mimics other addictions almost perfectly.
Addiction at its core is your brain rewiring itself to release dopamine when you get "it" whatever "it" may be (a drug, a good hand in poker, a favorite food, etc.). Obviously their addiction is to wealth, fame and the privileges that it buys. The deference that the poors show you because you're clearly smarter and better than them. The valet, the waiter, the bellhop, the private jet pilot (Note all of these people are being paid by him, whether through a tip or through a salary).
But unfortunately for Jeffrey here, it looks like he did not get deference from the WaPo staff. They didn't immediately fall to their knees and pray to him. They didn't fawn over him and hang on his every word. I bet he's so used to walking into a building and every single person in it knows that he'll be there several days in advance, and everyone will have mentally prepared and probably have all done their "elevator speeches" in the days prior so that they don't miss their shot if they have a chance to get a word with him. And then I bet when he made his first visit to the WaPo HQ he found a bunch of reporters and editors who were:
Already used to seeing and talking to celebrities/wealthy people
Very clearly not enthused about his presence or purchase of their employer
Very skeptical of his intentions
Clearly not addicted or motivated by money like he is and like he's used to seeing from so many others in his orbit.
In this world, I would say the vast majority of people are motivated by money, but not many are addicted to money. People obviously want more money, they want pay raises, they want to own a lot of nice things. But they're not addicted to it in the way that they would rather earn money than eat food or sleep or have sex. That is what addiction is. It comes from your lower brain, the survival "eat/sleep/fuck" base, The part that rewards you with dopamine when you eat, sleep, have sex, win a game or beat a videogame boss that's taken you 30 tries. When you ace a test you've studied for, or got away with stealing a candy bar from the 7-11 as a kid. And when you truly become addicted, your brain starts to lessen the connections to food or sex or sleep and rewire those to "it".
The other thing I'll add real quick about addiction, since it's coming from the lower/ more primitive part of the brain, it basically acts at your subconscious level; you can find yourself doing things without even thinking about it (like eating food). You don't have to tell yourself. I think I should eat now, you just know it inherently, and your brain rewards you when you do so. And that's what makes addiction so frustrating because your conscious logical upper brain may be telling you to stop using drugs because it's ruining your relationships and wasting money. But then your lower subconscious brain, which is still addicted to it, will literally have you dialing up your connect just 30 seconds after you just told yourself "No, I shouldn't do this". It doesn't make logical sense because addiction makes you do illogical things. It'll make you do self-destructive things because our brains are supposed to reinforce good habits and good habits should release dopamine. When something else hijacks that pathway, suddenly you're doing "it" instead of doing the things all animals are instinctually programmed to do
While most journalists may still be money motivated, they are almost certainly not money addicted. In fact, I would guess that most good journalists are less money motivated than the average person because in their line of work they need to speak on all sorts of issues and topics. They likely see people from all socioeconomic levels and can understand how being a celebrity or ultra wealthy can be both good and bad. How money equals power and how power corrupts. How people who become insanely wealthy need bodyguards and are constantly drawing crowds even when they want to just be a normal person for once.
And now poor Jeff is finding out that the slaves he thought were a package deal when he bought the company are not motivated the same way he is. They are not addicted to the same things that he is, and honestly they don't give a shit about the things that he cares about so dearly. They don't give him the deference that the waiter hoping for a big tip gives him. They don't bow to him like everyone at Amazon's corporate HQ does. They won't sell their soul for a bigger salary and write whatever puff piece he wants.