Update your 2025 bingo cards to include Jeff Bezos’ potential collaboration with arch-rival Elon Musk on DUZDZ.
The Amazon founder said Wednesday that he is ready to support President-elect Donald Trump’s deregulation agenda — a top priority of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Bezos spoke during The New York Times DealBook Summit 2024 with Andrew Ross Sorkin.
“I’m actually very optimistic this time,” Bezos said of Trump’s second term win, noting that he was actually “super optimistic.”
“There seems to be a lot of energy around reducing regulations. And my point of view, if I can help him with that, I will help him.”
Jeff Bezos Live at DealBook Summit 2024 https://t.co/PcXa2yMZx6
— Andrew Ross Sorkin (@andrewrsorkin) December 4, 2024
He added that Trump looks “more calm this time” and “more composed.”
“You’ve probably grown in the last eight years,” he told Sorkin. “And him too.”
Deregulation has been a major focus of Trump and his newly formed DOGE, which he heads Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and biotech founder Vivek Ramaswamy. So far, Musk and Ramaswamy have said they will break the rules, sending ideas end daylight saving time, get rid of entire government agenciesand even start the official DOGE podcast.
By offering to work with the new administration, Bezos could be taking a page from Musk’s book. Musk’s SpaceX, a fierce competitor to Blue Origin, was positioning yourself as a key partner of the government. Bezos’ gesture could be a strategic move to patch up differences and protect the interests of his companies, from Amazon’s antitrust battle to Blue Origin’s quest for federal aid. But Bezos said he accepted Musk’s promise not to use his position in government to favor his own companies or disadvantage his competitors.
Again, I could be wrong about that, Bezos said. “But I think it might be true.”
Bezos said that he had a lot of success in life because he was not cynical. “Because of that, I was very rarely taken advantage of,” he said. “It’s happened a few times, but not very often… Why be cynical about it? Let’s go into it hoping that the statements we’ve made are correct, that this will be done above board in the public interest.” If that turns out to be naive, then, “we’ll see,” Bezos said.
It is an open question whether Musk would be open to working with Bezos, whom he has derided as a “copy” in the past. Additionally, it remains to be seen whether Trump will accept Bezos’ offer, as the two have a rocky past relationship rooted in personal and professional conflicts.
Trump has frequently criticized Bezos during his presidency, often taking aim The Washington Postowned by Bezos, accusing him of dishonest and biased reporting. Trump has also targeted Amazon in the past, claiming the company exploited tax loopholes and underpaid US Postal Servicethe claims were denied by Bezos and Amazon.
