Jeff Bezos tweets 1999 magazine article predicting Amazon’s failure, Elon Musk awards him a silver medal

“The idea that Amazon Ceo Jeff Bezos has pioneered a new business paradigm is silly,” began the article featuring a caricature of Bezos inside a bomb. Dismissing him as “just another middleman”, the article goes on to call direct sellers the “real winners” of the internet boom. “Net will be firms that sell their own products directly to consumers.”

Read the full post here:

Listen and be open, but don’t let anybody tell you who you are. This was just one of the many stories telling us all the ways we were going to fail. Today, Amazon is one of the world’s most successful companies and has revolutionized two entirely different industries. pic.twitter.com/MgMsQHwqZl

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) October 11, 2021

While clearly, the prediction did not come true, Bezos used the magazine cover to tweet an inspirational message. “Listen and be open, but don’t let anybody tell you who you are. This was just one of the many stories telling us all the ways we were going to fail. Today, Amazon is one of the world’s most successful companies and has revolutionized two entirely different industries.”

The tweet also received a response from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who poked fun at the Amazon founder and replied with a silver medal emoji.

For those who don’t know, in September this year, Musk became the third person to amass a fortune worth $200 billion, surpassing Bezos to become the wealthiest man in the world the Forbes reported. In an email interview with the website, Musk had replied that he would be sending a giant statue of the “digit ‘2’ to Jeffrey B., along with a silver medal”.

🥈

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 11, 2021

Since being shared online, the post has gone viral on social media and triggered a plethora of reactions online.

A good reminder we’ve all been there at one point or another in our lives. I wasn’t a big fan until I looked into Amazon’s humble beginnings: it’s a shame perseverance and innovation are now considered shameful.

Envy is a truly destructive force. pic.twitter.com/3na9ty3cya

— Landrew (@AndrewSea) October 11, 2021

The deeper the doubts, the sweeter the success. https://t.co/dgrbu6yB3d

— Reed Hastings (@reedhastings) October 11, 2021

Timing is everything: https://t.co/vNBptW2pWq https://t.co/xKg35tA4Lt

— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) October 12, 2021

Futurism is hard but pessimism is easy

People become defenders of status quo often not even bc of incentives but bc they hate a philosophy of wealth creation https://t.co/W9PKMJV6gP

— Zhu Su 🔺 (@zhusu) October 12, 2021

Inspiring advice of how to handle criticism with a touch of emotional intelligent & nuanced perspective! Thanks, Jeff!❤️‍🔥

Confuse them with your silence, shock them with your results. -Someone

Phew. #HODLAssets https://t.co/AX5EDRpf3E

— Jenny Q Ta (@JQT_CoinLinked) October 12, 2021

Story continues below this ad

“Inspiring advice on how to handle criticism with a touch of emotional intelligent & nuanced perspective! Thanks, Jeff!” wrote a user while retweeting the viral post.