Amazon criticizes book by Bloomberg Businessweek writer

Amazon.com says that the book written about the company and founder Jeff Bezos by Bloomberg Businessweek writer Brad Stone was not properly fact-checked, writes Jay Yarow of Business Insider.

Yarow writes, “Amazon spokesperson Craig Berman sent us this statement:

‘Over the course of the author’s reporting, Amazon facilitated meetings for him with more than half a dozen senior Amazon executives, during which he had every opportunity to inquire about or fact-check claims made by former employees.  He chose not to.  I met in person with him on at least three occasions and exchanged dozens of emails where he only checked a few specific quotes.  He had every opportunity to thoroughly fact check and bring a more balanced viewpoint to his narrative, but he was very secretive about the book and simply chose not to.’

“Earlier today, Stone told us he was willing to update his book if new facts came to light. He also said that his story was based on hundreds of interviews with Amazon employees and executives, as a result he felt like he was in position to report on what Bezos was feeling at different moments in the history of the company.

“We called Stone for a comment on the newest Amazon statement and he told us, ‘I exhaustively fact checked the work with my sources. Amazon declined to make Jeff Bezos available for fact checking.'”