Amazon’s Jeff Bezos isn’t like the rest of us. That’s a given. Here you get some insight about his history with Boston, MA as he contemplates where to locate a second headquarters for Amazon. Here Scott Kirsner explains:
Jeff Bezos has never lived, gone to school, or worked here, so how much can he know about Boston?
Quite a lot.
Since the founder of Amazon showed up to speak at a class at Harvard Business School in 1997, Bezos has invested in a handful of local companies — and bought others, sometimes pulling their leaders out to Seattle to work with him directly. He has overseen the growth of local Amazon offices, which now employ more than 3,000 techies and white-collar workers, separate from Amazon’s logistics operations and distribution centers in the state. Bezos has also invited a few dozen lucky academics, executives, and entrepreneurs from Boston to the exclusive conference he organizes annually in Palm Springs, Calif., to enjoy a “fireworks” display put on by drones or watch Bezos himself gleefully operate a huge Transformers-style exoskeleton.
What impact — if any — will all of that have on Amazon’s eventual choice of a city for a second North American headquarters? Let’s just say it can’t hurt that Bezos has had plenty of direct exposure to Boston’s best and brightest. And those who have seen him in action say he appreciates brains and drive.
Read more here.
