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Summary
Summary
Most Anticipated by Foreign Policy * Globe and Mail * Publishers Weekly * Next Big Idea Club Must Read April Books
"Will stand as a classic." - Christopher Leonard
"Riveting, shocking, and full of revelations." - Bryan Burrough
From veteran Amazon reporter for The Wall Street Journal, The Everything War is the first untold, devastating exposé of Amazon's endless strategic greed, from destroying Main Street to remaking corporate power, in pursuit of total domination, by any means necessary.
In 2017, Lina Khan published a paper that accused Amazon of being a monopoly, having grown so large, and embedded in so many industries, it was akin to a modern-day Standard Oil. Unlike Rockefeller's empire, however, Bezos's company had grown voraciously without much scrutiny. In fact, for over twenty years, Amazon had emerged as a Wall Street darling and its "customer obsession" approach made it indelibly attractive to consumers across the globe. But the company was not benevolent; it operated in ways that ensured it stayed on top. Lina Khan's paper would light a fire in Washington, and in a matter of years, she would become the head of the FTC. In 2023, the FTC filed a monopoly lawsuit against Amazon in what may become one of the largest antitrust cases in the 21st century.
With unparalleled access, and having interviewed hundreds of people - from Amazon executives to competitors to small businesses who rely on its marketplace to survive - Mattioli exposes how Amazon was driven by a competitive edge to dominate every industry it entered, bulldozed all who stood in its way, reshaped the retail landscape, transformed how Wall Street evaluates companies, and altered the very nature of the global economy. It has come to control most of online retail, and uses its own sellers' data to compete with them through Amazon's own private label brands. Millions of companies and governmental agencies use AWS, paying hefty fees for the service. And, the company has purposefully avoided collecting taxes for years, exploited partners, and even copied competitors--leveraging its power to extract whatever it can, at any cost. It has continued to gain market share in disparate areas, from media to logistics and beyond. Most companies dominate one or two industries; Amazon now leads in several. And all of this was by design.
The Everything War is the definitive, inside story of how it grew into one of the most powerful and feared companies in the world - and why this lawsuit opens a window into the most consequential business story of our times.
Author Notes
Dana Mattioli has been a reporter for The Wall Street Journal since 2006. She has written investigative pieces and Front Page stories about Amazon since 2019 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Journalism for her work on Amazon. Her Amazon coverage also received the 2021 Gerald Loeb Award for Beat Reporting. In 2021, she received the WERT Prize, an award from the Women's Economic Round Table that honors excellence in comprehensively reported business journalism for her Amazon investigations, and received a Front Page Award for her Amazon coverage.
Prior to covering Amazon, Dana held one of the WSJ's highest profile beats covering mergers & acquisitions. During her 17-year career at WSJ she has produced a string of investigations and Page One stories on CEOs, boards of directors, technology companies and retailers. Dana is the recipient of a second Gerald Loeb award for breaking news, the SABEW breaking news award, two New York Press Club awards and was a finalist for the Larry Birger Young Business Journalist Award. Dana has appeared on CNBC, Good Morning America, Fox Business News, and Cheddar. She was the subject of a Wall Street Journal advertisement campaign about how the newspaper's highest-profile stories came together.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Wall Street Journal reporter Mattioli debuts with a blistering exposé of how Amazon used its "size, leverage, and access to data across industries to choke competition." According to Mattioli, Amazon's enormous growth since the late 1990s was fueled by a business model that dominated industries by introducing low prices (even when it meant operating at a loss) to lure customers away from competitors, who rarely had the resources to outlast Amazon's steep discounts. Once rivals had been bankrupted or bought out, Amazon would raise prices again. Mattioli's impressive reporting--which draws on internal documents and hundreds of interviews with employees, senior executives, and government officials--recreates the company's conquests in disturbing detail. For instance, Mattioli recounts how Amazon lost $200 million in one month selling discounted diapers to force Quidsi, parent company of Diapers.com, to the bargaining table, and threatened to give diapers away if the company didn't capitulate to Amazon's takeover bid (Amazon acquired Quidsi in 2010). Mattioli also delves into Federal Trade Commission chairperson Lina Khan's lawsuit against Amazon for "maintaining an illegal monopoly," presenting Khan as a heroic underdog for suing over the objections of her risk-averse colleagues at the FTC. Mattioli spins the legal wrangling into surprisingly riveting reading, and the meticulous accounts of Amazon's nefarious practices outrage. This is investigative journalism at its finest. Agent: Eric Lupfer, UTA. (Apr.)
Kirkus Review
A compelling study of the tech behemoth's bid to control whatever it touches. Amazon has infiltrated our lives, and the U.S. economy, to a degree that no other company ever has. Mattioli, a Wall Street Journal reporter who has covered Amazon since 2019, brings great expertise to her first book. She readily acknowledges that the company provides convenience, product range, and low prices to shoppers, but she believes that it is now doing more harm than good. There are already several books and a wealth of articles explaining how Amazon overpowers small companies through unfair practices, manipulates the tax system, and abuses its employees, but Mattioli examines some new aspects through interviews with former and current employees. Many of her sources requested anonymity, which is understandable given Amazon's penchant for retribution. The real value of this book, however, is in the chapters about regulating the corporation. Legislation stalled in Congress, but a lawsuit has been brought by the Federal Trade Commission, which aims to break the giant into separate entities, working on the principle that much of Amazon's power stems from its domination of numerous connected sectors. For its part, Amazon argues that it constantly works to benefit consumers, but the focus of the FTC case is its anti-competitive market operations. The case is still underway, and while Mattioli is a supporter of the lawsuit, she points to the massive lobbying power of Amazon, as well as its legion of lawyers and PR specialists. Another lawsuit involves the Prime program, claiming that "Amazon purposefully signed up consumers…without their understanding and made it very hard to cancel." Even if there is no firm conclusion, Mattioli has done much to reveal the snarl behind the smiley-face logo. Mattioli tears away the Amazon curtain and finds a culture of ruthlessness, greed, and disdain for the law. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Mattioli, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and Pulitzer Prize finalist in investigative journalism for her work on Amazon, delivers an expose on that company's drive for domination. Amazon, valued at $1.5 trillion, is a powerhouse seller, a web service provider, and logistics magnate. This book walks readers through the company's history to current times, including the 2023 antitrust lawsuit filed against them by the Federal Trade Commission--one of the largest antitrust lawsuits this century. Mattioli has interviewed hundreds of people, from small businesses to Amazon executives, providing readers with rare insights into their retail landscape. She investigates, for example, how Amazon uses its massive troves of data from third-party sellers when formulating private labels that usurp the competition's market share. Chapters also cover tax evasion and how that has led to the closing of 30 percent of America's stores and malls. The COVID-19 lockdown only made Amazon stronger. Readers will be drawn into the well-researched narrative that details how Amazon has reshaped our daily lives and economy, while still growing. This book will appeal to those interested in business and the behemoth that is Amazon.
