The FRONTLINE Interviews

Amazon Empire

Our Sources. On the Record. At Your Fingertips.

To produce Amazon Empire, filmmakers James Jacoby and Anya Bourg conducted fifty-seven on-the-record interviews. The yearlong investigation revealed how Jeff Bezos transformed a small online bookstore into a trillion dollar global empire, profoundly changed consumer habits and retail commerce, and in the process, became the richest person in the world. In this collection of excerpts from interviews with eleven current and former Amazon executives, part of FRONTLINE's ongoing Transparency Project, you can explore first-hand insights into Amazon's rise as a global power, ethical questions surrounding data collection and worker safety, and recent calls to break up Amazon.

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Documentary

Amazon Empire

FRONTLINE examines Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ ascent to power, and the global impact of the empire he built

Interviews for this film were conducted by James Jacoby and Anya Bourg and edited for the web by Phil Bennett and Lauren Prestileo.

Design and build for Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos by Dan Nolan and Anthony DeLorenzo with assistance from Kimberly Patch. Video editing by Kenzie Audette. Copy editing by Julie Wolf. Additional assistance from Dale Cohen, Miles Alvord, Priyanka Boghani, Sarah Childress and Shantal Riley.

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Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation

Koo and Patricia Yuen

Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with major support from Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided the Abrams Foundation, Park Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Trust, with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation. Web Site Copyright ©1995-2025 WGBH Educational Foundation. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.