--- description: Bezos tells staff The New York Times' scathing article "doesn't describe the Amazon I know." title: How Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Responded to a Scathing NYT Article image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22a25ade81ace244/69885f92524fc06602df4117/bezos-1280x720-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Amazon](/tag/amazon/) ## Amazon Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Defends His Company After a Scathing New York Times Article by [Tom Huddleston, Jr. / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Tom Huddleston, Jr. / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 17, 2015 12:38 PM CUT  Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. by [Tom Huddleston, Jr. / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Tom Huddleston, Jr. / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 17, 2015 12:38 PM CUT Jeff Bezos has sent out an internal memo to staff in which the Amazon founder and CEO dismissed the scathing criticism of his company’s workplace culture in [an article from _The New York Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&%5Fr=2 "undefined"). [According to CNBC](http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/jeff-bezos-defends-amazon-after-scathing-new-york-times-article-n410886 "undefined"), Bezos said in the memo that the NYT article “doesn’t describe the Amazon I know or the caring Amazonians I work with every day.” The article, published over the weekend by NYT, depicts an exceedingly harsh environment for employees at Amazon, which [recently surpassed Walmart](http://fortune.com/2015/07/23/amazon-tops-walmart/ "undefined") to become the world’s most valuable retailer. The story describes Amazon as a “bruising workplace” where employees are routinely mistreated and pitted against one another, all while working long hours. But, in Bezos’ estimation at least, the NYT article does not come close to capturing the experience of life at Amazon and he invites his employees to e-mail him directly to share any stories they have that would corroborate the story told in the scathing piece. “Even if it’s rare or isolated, our tolerance for any such lack of empathy needs to be zero,” [Bezos notes in the memo](http://recode.net/2015/08/17/jeff-bezos-responds-to-new-york-times-story-i-dont-recognize-this-amazon/ "undefined"). Bezos is [not the first high-ranking person at Amazon to speak out](http://fortune.com/2015/08/16/amazon-new-york-times-response/ "undefined") against the negative article. Nick Ciubotariu, Amazon’s head of infrastructure development, responded on LinkedIn on Sunday, with a post defending his company, and arguing that “singling out several outliers to vilify an entire company does not represent truth in journalism.” _Read next:_ [_Your Amazon Kindle Is About to Get Way Better_](http://time.com/money/3992377/amazon-kindle-bookerly-font/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Listen to the most important stories of the day_](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/autoplay/?xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4000099/jeff-bezos-memo-new-york-times/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4000099/jeff-bezos-memo-new-york-times/"},"headline":"Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Defends His Company After a Scathing New York Times Article","datePublished":"2015-08-17T12:38:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:06:23.632Z","description":"Bezos says the brutal portrayal 'doesn't describe the Amazon I know'","url":"https://time.com/4000099/jeff-bezos-memo-new-york-times/","keywords":["Amazon","Tech","Retail","Walmart","Jeff Bezos","pubdesk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22a25ade81ace244/69885f92524fc06602df4117/bezos-1280x720-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tom Huddleston, Jr. / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22a25ade81ace244/69885f92524fc06602df4117/bezos-1280x720-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"bezos-1280x720-1","caption":"Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/amazon/","name":"Amazon"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4000099/jeff-bezos-memo-new-york-times/","name":"Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Defends His Company After a Scathing New York Times Article"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See The Unique Way Amazon Ships This Teddy Bear","description":"Go Behind the Scenes at Amazon to see how the products you buy make it to the shipping truck","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/IY8KG0y3/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-12-01T04:19:45.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IY8KG0y3.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4000099/jeff-bezos-memo-new-york-times/","duration":"PT2M54S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4000099/jeff-bezos-memo-new-york-times/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```