Activist Investors Not Targeting Amazon But They Still Fantasize About It

Activist Investors Not Targeting Amazon, But They Still Fantasize About It

Daniel Loeb says he sees approximately $1T in untapped value in #Amazon. I'm sure the new CEO along with Jeff are happy to hear that, but likely think the number is on the low side ...

Here are a few points from the article: - Puts Amazon's retail business at $1T and AWS at $1.5T. Let me back up and say that again. Amazon (according to investors) created another bigger Amazon in the last 15 years.

- Of course it helps him to say that because he already has a large stake in Amazon.

- Thinks it would be prudent for Amazon to spin off AWS to ease regulator concerns and unlock value. That would be a sea change in Amazon's approach.

- If AWS was spun off, on its own would be only behind Apple ($2.7T), Microsoft ($2.1T) and Google ($1.7) as the largest technology companies in the world.

- Oracle, Adobe and Salesforce combined are $600B. AWS according to these valuations would be more than double that.

By this logic, it's hard not to imagine that Andy Jassy would not split out a separate tracking stock for AWS, while still trying to keep AWS in the fold strategically.

Will be interesting to watch to see if this has ripple effects. It's obvious this has been studied inside Amazon, but there are too many advantages to core Amazon that this stays together.

On the other hand, following the money/value creation is never a bad path to predicting what might happen in the future.

#ecommerce #Amazon

Rick Watson

Rick Watson founded RMW Commerce Consulting after spending 20+ years as a technology entrepreneur and operator exclusively in the eCommerce industry with companies like ChannelAdvisor, BarnesandNoble.com, Merchantry, and Pitney Bowes.

Watson’s work today is centered on supporting investors and management teams incubating and growing direct-to-consumer businesses. Most recently, in partnership with WHP Global, Rick was a critical resource in architecting the WHP+ platform, a new turnkey direct to consumer digital e-commerce platform that powers AnneKlein.com and JosephAbboud.com.

Watson also hosts a weekly podcast, Watson Weekly, where he shares an unbiased, unfiltered expert take on the retail sector’s biggest players.

In the past year alone, Rick has spoken at many in-person and virtual events as well as podcasts on topics ranging from retail/ecom to supply chain/logistics and even digital grocery including CommerceNext IRL, ASCM Connect, and Retail Innovation Conference.

https://www.rmwcommerce.com/
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