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The Age
05-07-2025
- Business
- The Age
Jeff Bezos 2.0: New wife, newish job, old vision
Jeff Bezos lives by a simple precept: limit the number of things you would wish you had done differently when you are 80. He calls it, with habitual nerdiness, the ' regret-minimisation framework '. In 1994, it led him to forsake cushy work at a hedge fund to start Amazon. It is behind the big bets, from the Prime subscription service to AWS cloud computing, that have made the company into a technology titan valued at $US2.3 trillion ($3.5 trillion) and himself into one of the world's richest people. It also explains why, six years ago, Mr Bezos left his first wife of 25 years for a former TV presenter, Lauren Sánchez. And why he blew, on some estimates, $US50 million ($76 million) to rent out Venice for three days for their opulent nuptials starting on June 26 – the predictable antiplutocrat pushback be damned. The 61-year-old Mr Bezos presumably has an even better idea today of what his octogenarian self might regret than he did at 31, 41 or 51, when his 80th birthday was far off. To get an inkling of his current calculus, look at how he spends, first, his time and, second, his $US240 billion ($365 billion) fortune. Once the billionaire is back from his honeymoon, details of which are as hush-hush as the wedding was loud, he will return to his other love – Blue Origin. Mr Bezos has been a card-carrying space cadet since watching the Apollo 11 moon landings in 1969, when he was five. In 2000, he founded the rocketry firm – credo: ' gradatim ferociter ' (step by step, ferociously) – to make space travel cheaper with reusable craft. The ultimate goal is to enable humanity to keep growing in resource-rich and unpollutable space while letting Earth thrive as a planet-sized nature reserve. Until he retired as boss of Amazon in 2021, he blocked out the same half-day every work week (plus Saturday mornings) to turn this science-fiction into business fact. One of the reasons for quitting Amazon was, Mr Bezos has confessed, that Blue Origin was going about its mission too gradatim and not ferociter enough. SpaceX, a rival two years its junior, was sending dozens of payloads a year into orbit. Blue Origin had yet to launch any. Loading So in the past four years he has, by his own admission, been devoting 90 per cent of his time to Blue Origin. He wholly owns the company but does not run it day to day. That is the job of David Limp, whom Mr Bezos pinched from Amazon in 2023, where he oversaw various device-related projects, including the Alexa digital assistant, the Kindle book-reader and Project Kuiper, a satellite-broadband initiative to challenge SpaceX's Starlink system. According to people in the know, though, Mr Bezos is a de facto co-CEO, as well as troubleshooter-in-chief. He is constantly on the lookout for ways to make Blue Origin's four factories and seven field offices around America run more efficiently. It is hard, for instance, not to see his ruthless hand in the firm's decision in February to lay off a tenth of its 14,000-strong workforce. No regrets there, at least not for Mr Bezos. There have been fewer of them elsewhere in the business lately, too. Two years ago, Blue Origin was awarded the contract to develop a lander for NASA's planned crewed return to the moon. In January, it pulled off the long-delayed virgin voyage of its New Glenn rocket. It reached orbit on the first try (though the reusable first stage was not recovered in the manner that SpaceX now routinely deploys). A second launch is planned for August.
Sydney Morning Herald
05-07-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Jeff Bezos 2.0: New wife, newish job, old vision
Jeff Bezos lives by a simple precept: limit the number of things you would wish you had done differently when you are 80. He calls it, with habitual nerdiness, the ' regret-minimisation framework '. In 1994, it led him to forsake cushy work at a hedge fund to start Amazon. It is behind the big bets, from the Prime subscription service to AWS cloud computing, that have made the company into a technology titan valued at $US2.3 trillion ($3.5 trillion) and himself into one of the world's richest people. It also explains why, six years ago, Mr Bezos left his first wife of 25 years for a former TV presenter, Lauren Sánchez. And why he blew, on some estimates, $US50 million ($76 million) to rent out Venice for three days for their opulent nuptials starting on June 26 – the predictable antiplutocrat pushback be damned. The 61-year-old Mr Bezos presumably has an even better idea today of what his octogenarian self might regret than he did at 31, 41 or 51, when his 80th birthday was far off. To get an inkling of his current calculus, look at how he spends, first, his time and, second, his $US240 billion ($365 billion) fortune. Once the billionaire is back from his honeymoon, details of which are as hush-hush as the wedding was loud, he will return to his other love – Blue Origin. Mr Bezos has been a card-carrying space cadet since watching the Apollo 11 moon landings in 1969, when he was five. In 2000, he founded the rocketry firm – credo: ' gradatim ferociter ' (step by step, ferociously) – to make space travel cheaper with reusable craft. The ultimate goal is to enable humanity to keep growing in resource-rich and unpollutable space while letting Earth thrive as a planet-sized nature reserve. Until he retired as boss of Amazon in 2021, he blocked out the same half-day every work week (plus Saturday mornings) to turn this science-fiction into business fact. One of the reasons for quitting Amazon was, Mr Bezos has confessed, that Blue Origin was going about its mission too gradatim and not ferociter enough. SpaceX, a rival two years its junior, was sending dozens of payloads a year into orbit. Blue Origin had yet to launch any. Loading So in the past four years he has, by his own admission, been devoting 90 per cent of his time to Blue Origin. He wholly owns the company but does not run it day to day. That is the job of David Limp, whom Mr Bezos pinched from Amazon in 2023, where he oversaw various device-related projects, including the Alexa digital assistant, the Kindle book-reader and Project Kuiper, a satellite-broadband initiative to challenge SpaceX's Starlink system. According to people in the know, though, Mr Bezos is a de facto co-CEO, as well as troubleshooter-in-chief. He is constantly on the lookout for ways to make Blue Origin's four factories and seven field offices around America run more efficiently. It is hard, for instance, not to see his ruthless hand in the firm's decision in February to lay off a tenth of its 14,000-strong workforce. No regrets there, at least not for Mr Bezos. There have been fewer of them elsewhere in the business lately, too. Two years ago, Blue Origin was awarded the contract to develop a lander for NASA's planned crewed return to the moon. In January, it pulled off the long-delayed virgin voyage of its New Glenn rocket. It reached orbit on the first try (though the reusable first stage was not recovered in the manner that SpaceX now routinely deploys). A second launch is planned for August.
Scoop
03-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Tariffing New Zealand Timber And Lumber Products To The U.S. Would Be Troublesome
With a population of 5.2 million people spread over a land area slightly less than the state of Colorado, New Zealand has a strong story to tell about free trade, farming and renewable forestry resources. No more so than when it comes to endorsing our high-quality softwood timber and lumber products that have gained popularity among American consumers in the home construction industry due to their appearance, superior machining properties and premium quality. Forests thrive in New Zealand's climate and the sector supports a year-round harvest – with responsible production central to the industry. Plantation forests are sustainably managed (with large areas under global certification programmes), and are dominated by radiata pine, a productive and fast-growing softwood species. Processed outputs from our forest estates range from lumber, pulp and paper, panels, to engineered wood and remanufactured products. The strength of New Zealand pine compares favourably with that of most traditional construction lumber species. Appropriate conversion processes ensure that the higher-strength wood fibre near the outside of the log is sawn for building and construction. Our radiata pine is versatile and is excellent for an impressive range of structural and appearance applications. It is easily kiln dried or chemically treated to produce stable and long-lasting products. Due to limited domestic demand for our wood products, we have always taken great pride in developing relationships and exporting our timber and lumber to overseas markets, such as the United States. In 2024, we exported $US215 million of radiata pine products from New Zealand to the United States making the U.S. our third largest export market for forest products behind China and Australia. Although the $US215 million is minor when compared to the total global imports of $US2.3 billion of timber and lumber products into the United States, this trade is valued by both the New Zealand producers and the American DIY customers. New Zealand timber and lumber exporters are known for providing high value wood products into the United States, most of which is sold into the DIY end user's market, such as Home Depot, Lowes and Menards. Given the healthy relationship between the United States and New Zealand on the trade front, the temporary relief of tariffs on timber and lumber imported into the United States has been welcomed. Though we realise that this tariff exemption could be short lived based on the outcome of the Section 232 investigation aimed at determining the global effects imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products have on the United Sates supply chain. As a small niche supplier of wood products that are needed by the U.S. domestic building market, there is a strong argument for keeping New Zealand timber and lumber imports tariff free to avoid any additional price hikes and further supply chain disruptions. If tariffs are added to imported New Zealand wood products, this will have a direct impact on the American consumer through price increases and supply availability on articles like clear pine boards, moldings, solid wood sidings and primed product. As one customer in the United States commented ' a lot of what we buy from New Zealand we can't get elsewhere easily, so expect we may have to pay extra, resulting in higher prices for the consumer '. As an example, clear radiata pine boards are unable to be produced in the United States as no domestic species come from a pruned forestry resource. There is a realisation that due to our low trade barriers and the minimal effect we have on global imports into the United States, that New Zealand is not the target of any new tariffs. However, there is a chance that we will be unintentionally caught up in the tariff effects should they be implemented. With high shipping and production costs, it is anticipated that should a tariff on New Zealand timber and lumber products be imposed then this will lead to higher prices at a time when other building material costs are also on the rise. From a New Zealand perspective we look upon the temporary tariff exemption on timber and lumber products as a blessing, and we thank our kindred organisations in America, such as the National Association of Home Builders and the Northeastern Retail Lumber Association, for their support in making this happen. Like many, we now wait for completion of the section. 232 Investigation as to what the future holds for imported New Zealand timber and lumber products entering the United States. Mark Ross Chief Executive
Sydney Morning Herald
02-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Donald Trump is proving disastrous for big tech
In the weeks after the re-election of Donald Trump, the bosses of America's tech giants worked hard to ingratiate themselves with the returning president, congratulating him publicly and dutifully turning up to his inauguration. Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Meta, gushed that it was nice to have an administration that was 'proud' of America's tech champions. There was good reason for the obsequiousness. During the campaign Trump referred to Meta as an 'enemy of the people'. Many in his MAGA movement have accused America's tech giants of censoring right-wing views. In 2021 J.D. Vance, now Trump's vice-president, called the behemoths 'parasitic'. Even the techies surrounding Trump, such as Elon Musk, belong to a different Silicon Valley tribe that is suspicious of big tech. Three months in, and the bosses of America's most valuable firms have little to show for all their toadying. Trump appears unwilling to spare them from the trust-buster's snare, and is adding to their troubles with his trade war. On April 29, the White House accused Amazon of a 'hostile and political act' after the company was reported to be planning to display the cost of tariffs for items sold through its website. (Amazon swiftly clarified that the idea had been considered only for Amazon Haul, where it sells ultra-cheap products, and that it would not be implemented.) Loading Since Trump's inauguration the combined market value of the five big platforms – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft – plus Nvidia, America's semiconductor superstar, has fallen by $US2.3 trillion ($3.6 trillion), or 16 per cent. Just how bad could things get? Start with antitrust. Neither Andrew Ferguson, whom Trump appointed as chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), or Gail Slater, his pick as head of the antitrust division of the Department of Justice (DoJ), have shown much interest in halting the cases against big tech begun by the Biden administration. Slater, who on April 21 described Google as a threat to freedom of speech, freedom of thought and 'free American digital markets', inherited two cases against Alphabet, its corporate parent. On April 17, a district judge ruled in one of them that the company operates an illegal monopoly in digital advertising. In the other case, a court ruled last year that Google's search business was an illegal monopoly, too; hearings to decide on remedies will start on May 2. The DoJ has urged the court to force Google to sell its Chrome browser, alongside other changes to its business.
The Age
02-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
Donald Trump is proving disastrous for big tech
In the weeks after the re-election of Donald Trump, the bosses of America's tech giants worked hard to ingratiate themselves with the returning president, congratulating him publicly and dutifully turning up to his inauguration. Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Meta, gushed that it was nice to have an administration that was 'proud' of America's tech champions. There was good reason for the obsequiousness. During the campaign Trump referred to Meta as an 'enemy of the people'. Many in his MAGA movement have accused America's tech giants of censoring right-wing views. In 2021 J.D. Vance, now Trump's vice-president, called the behemoths 'parasitic'. Even the techies surrounding Trump, such as Elon Musk, belong to a different Silicon Valley tribe that is suspicious of big tech. Three months in, and the bosses of America's most valuable firms have little to show for all their toadying. Trump appears unwilling to spare them from the trust-buster's snare, and is adding to their troubles with his trade war. On April 29, the White House accused Amazon of a 'hostile and political act' after the company was reported to be planning to display the cost of tariffs for items sold through its website. (Amazon swiftly clarified that the idea had been considered only for Amazon Haul, where it sells ultra-cheap products, and that it would not be implemented.) Loading Since Trump's inauguration the combined market value of the five big platforms – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft – plus Nvidia, America's semiconductor superstar, has fallen by $US2.3 trillion ($3.6 trillion), or 16 per cent. Just how bad could things get? Start with antitrust. Neither Andrew Ferguson, whom Trump appointed as chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), or Gail Slater, his pick as head of the antitrust division of the Department of Justice (DoJ), have shown much interest in halting the cases against big tech begun by the Biden administration. Slater, who on April 21 described Google as a threat to freedom of speech, freedom of thought and 'free American digital markets', inherited two cases against Alphabet, its corporate parent. On April 17, a district judge ruled in one of them that the company operates an illegal monopoly in digital advertising. In the other case, a court ruled last year that Google's search business was an illegal monopoly, too; hearings to decide on remedies will start on May 2. The DoJ has urged the court to force Google to sell its Chrome browser, alongside other changes to its business.
