Jon Stewart once told Jeff Bezos at a private dinner with the Obamas that workers want more fulfillment than running errands for rich people: ‘It’s a recipe for revolution’

• Jon Stewart once told Jeff Bezos that his vision for the economy was a “recipe for revolution.”
• Stewart said during a recent podcast episode that former President Barack Obama agreed.
• In recent years, Amazon employees have gone on strike, filed lawsuits, and attempted to unionize.

Jeff Bezos’ vision for the future has made him one of the world’s richest people, but comedian Jon Stewart sees it as a “recipe for revolution” — and he once told Bezos as much.

In an episode of the podcast “The Problem With Jon Stewart” published this month, Stewart described meeting Bezos at a dinner at the White House with former President Barack Obama, former First Lady Michelle Obama, billionaire Mark Cuban, and an unnamed guest whom Stewart described as the “inventor of the Oculus” virtual reality headset. 

As Stewart tells it, Bezos discussed what he sees as the economy of the future, one that relies on service workers to perform tasks. Stewart said he disagreed, that people want to feel proud of their work, and feel like they’re contributing to society and not just “running errands for people that have more than you,” Stewart said he told Bezos. 

“I think he views everybody as like a part of a fulfillment center,” Stewart said. “And so I said, ‘I think that’s a recipe for revolution.’ And then, like, kind of a hush falls over. And then you hear Obama from across the couch go, ‘I agree with Jon.'”

While Stewart’s jab at Bezos occurred at least five years ago, criticism of the Amazon founder and his company’s business model has ramped up in recent years as employees have increasingly spoken out about grueling working conditions and an intense focus on meeting lofty goals, all in the name of Amazon’s “customer obsessed” company culture. 

During the pandemic, Amazon’s share price — and, by extension, Bezos’ net worth — reached new highs as consumers turned to the e-commerce giant more than ever before. But that success appears to have led to situations not unlike what Stewart warned about: As the company’s own warehouse workers fell ill by the tens of thousands, employees went on strike, filed lawsuits, protested outside Bezos’ home, and, at one Alabama fulfillment center, even attempted to unionize.