A leaked email shows a big reorganization is under way for Amazon's physical stores business
A leaked email viewed by Insider shows Amazon's physical stores business, including Fresh grocery and Whole Foods Market, is undergoing a major reorg.
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1. A leaked email reveals a big reorganization of Amazon's physical stores and Whole Foods business. Announced internally by Tony Hoggett, Amazon's new SVP of physical stores and specialty fulfillment, the plan includes several high-profile departures and a call for better collaboration between teams.
VP Dilip Kumar, who oversaw the Just Walk Out cashierless tech, is moving to Amazon Web Services. There, Kumar will take on an "expanded role" and report directly to AWS CEO Adam Selipsky, the email said.
Kumar's move to AWS signals a greater focus on selling Amazon's in-store technologies to corporate customers, as Insider previously reported.
The recent shake-up means Hoggett has a fresh top leadership team, you can see the 18 execs now in charge of Amazon's grocery efforts here.
Other changes appear to be aimed at building a closer alliance between Amazon and Whole Foods, whose relationship hasn't always been great since the 2017 acquisition.
See the biggest changes under the new plan.
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3. Apple set a return-to-office deadline of September 5. As per Bloomberg, internal emails show staff will be expected to be in the office at least three days per week. Apple has been working toward getting its employees back in the office since June 2021, but COVID-19 forced the company to push back deadlines. The latest at Apple.
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6. Warner Bros. Discovery is laying off around 70 HBO and HBO Max staffers. The cuts mainly impact HBO Max's reality TV team, as well as its international, casting, and acquisitions units. Everything we know about the layoffs.
7. Elon Musk wrote an essay for a magazine run by Chinese censors. In a column, the Tesla CEO explained why he wants to turn humans into "multi-planetary creatures," and that human civilization will be able to go on when Earth is no longer habitable if "we can fly to a new home in a spaceship." Here's what else Musk wrote about.
8. Amazon accused the FTC of harassing founder Jeff Bezos and CEO Andy Jassy. In a legal filing, Amazon said FTC officials made unreasonable demands, including targeting employees' homes to serve subpoenas, as part of the agency's investigation into the company's Prime membership program and other subscription services — and those aren't the only allegations.
Odds and ends:
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10. My coworker self-published a book through Amazon. Phil Rosen writes Insider's 10 Things Before the Opening Bell newsletter, and just published his second book using tools like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, Canva, and Adobe Photoshop. He explains how he did it.
What we're watching today:
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Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email [email protected] or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.
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