Jeff Bezos: 'I Predict One Day Amazon Will Fail' When asked about Sears recently going bankrupt, Jeff Bezos surprised everyone by predicting Amazon will most likely also fail and go bankrupt.

By Matthew Humphries

This story originally appeared on PCMag

Matt Winkelmeyer | Getty Images
Jeff Bezos

A company doesn't get as big as Amazon as quickly as it has without the CEO thinking a little differently to everyone else, and in the case of Jeff Bezos, that thinking extends to predicting when his company will fail.

As CNBC reports, during an all-hands meeting held last Thursday in Seattle, Bezos was asked if he had learned anything from the recent bankruptcy of Sears and others. His response is not what anyone would expect from the CEO of Amazon, or CEO of any company for that matter.

Related: New York Is Giving Amazon a Helipad and New Yorkers Are Furious

Bezos is quoted as saying, "Amazon is not too big to fail ... In fact, I predict one day Amazon will fail. Amazon will go bankrupt. If you look at large companies, their lifespans tend to be 30-plus years, not a hundred-plus years."

While initially, that sounds very negative, Bezos went on to suggest that the lesson from other big companies that go bankrupt is to not "focus on ourselves, and instead focus on our customers." For now, that's something Amazon is clearly doing very well as it bumps up against becoming a trillion-dollar company just like Apple.

CNBC managed to speak to some Amazon employees on condition of anonymity to find out what the biggest future concerns are for the company. Government regulation and antitrust violations top the list as the greatest risks, which squares up nicely against Bezos' desire to remain focused on the customer. If the focus moved to put the company first, then the chance of Amazon being looked on negatively by consumers goes up and so the calls for regulation would most likely increase.

Related: Jeff Bezos Reveals What Inspires Him the Most at Work

Would anyone bet against Amazon still being here in 30 years? Jeff Bezos will be 84 by then, Donald Trump's presidency will be a distant memory, and we may have headphone jacks back on our smartphones. If a company wants to last over a hundred years, Bezos stated at the same all-hands meeting that he believes alcohol is key, "Most of the companies that are multi-hundred-year-old companies are breweries...It's very interesting -- I'm not sure what that says about society."

Related: Jeff Bezos Reveals His Daily Decision-Making Goal and 30 Other Crazy Things We've Learned About the Amazon Founder

Matthew Humphries

Senior Editor

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business News

JPMorgan Shuts Down Internal Message Board Comments After Employees React to Return-to-Office Mandate

Employees were given the option to leave comments about the RTO mandate with their first and last names on display — and they did not hold back.

Innovation

4 Ways Market Leaders Use Innovation to Foster Business Growth

Forward-thinkers constantly strive to diversify and streamline their products and services, turning novelties into commodities desired by many.

Franchise

Jersey Mike's Switched Up Its Strategy for Serving Customers This Year — Then Blackstone Bought the Sandwich Chain for $8 Billion

The New Jersey sub franchise has dialed in on strategies to serve customers in stores and online, as proven by its recent acquisition.

Franchise

The One Factor the Top Franchises of 2025 Have in Common

Here's how we determined the companies in our annual Franchise 500 ranking, and what we learned from the data.

Franchise

Taco Bell Is More Than 60 Years Old — Here's the Brand's Secret to Staying Relevant, According to Its CEO

The fast food franchise has its sights set on something bigger than the quick service restaurant category. That landed it the #1 spot on our Franchise 500 for the fifth time.

Franchise

From Dog Grooming to Acai Bowls — What's Making These Brands Grow So Fast?

These five brands rocketed up the rankings of our Franchise 500 this year. Here's why.