亚马逊八大干将全接触

    过去16年中，如果非要总结一下亚马逊（Amazon）教会了我们什么，那答案就是绝对不要低估它。自从1994年杰夫•贝佐斯创立亚马逊之后，这家电子商务巨头已经一再证明，它有能力进军新领域并成为其中的主导者。如今，大批消费者在亚马逊采购物美价廉的电子书和各种商品，而且在次日甚至当天就能收到购买的货物；而企业界则纷纷采用亚马逊的云计算服务维持日常运营。

    价格低廉、种类繁多、快速送达，这些或许能解释为什么公司销售额能以每季度40%的速度增长。同时，这也意味着，从长远来看，亚马逊雄心勃勃的扩张计划终将带来回报，虽然外界仍对它的低利润率和一部分赔钱赚吆喝的商品（比如Kindle Fire平板电脑）存有疑虑。正如杰夫•贝佐斯所言，公司是在投资未来。

    但在西雅图市中心占地170万英尺的亚马逊总部，运筹帷幄的并不是贝佐斯一个人。本文将隆重介绍亚马逊的各位重量级人物。

杰夫•贝佐斯

首席执行官

    1994年，杰夫•贝佐斯创立亚马逊时，公司只是一家网上书店；之后，公司逐步发展壮大成为一个庞大的虚拟商场。

    全球运营与客户服务（Worldwide Operations and Customer Service）高级副总裁马克•奥尼托在一所大学演讲时回忆道：“当时，公司网站建设已经花掉了原始投资人的大量资金，但杰夫却决定向竞争对手开放我们的网站。” 虽然贝佐斯的决定最初遭到了各方的批评，但奥尼托却深信，正是这一决定使亚马逊成为目前年收入340亿美元的行业巨头。

    最后，贝佐斯决定对云计算服务采取同样的措施，将数据存储和计算能力出租给消费者。通过电子书阅读器Kindle，贝佐斯颠覆了现代的书籍模式。仅去年12月份一个月，公司便卖出400万台Kindle，而据巴克莱银行（Barclays Capital ）预测，明年，亚马逊电子书阅读器的销量将达到2,100万台。

    If there's one lesson we can take away from Amazon over the last 16 years, it's not to underestimate it. Since CEO Jeff Bezos set up shop in 1994, the e-commerce giant has proven repeatedly it can enter a new space and dominate it. Consumers flock to Amazon now for aggressively priced e-books and goods, then have those goods shipped two-day or same day; companies use the company's cloud-based services for day-to-day operations.

    Low pricing, a wide catalog and fast delivery explain why sales continue to rise 40% on average each quarter. It also means Amazon's aggressive expansion could pay off in the long run, despite concerns over low margins and items like the Kindle Fire, which are sold at a loss. The company is, as its CEO would argue, investing in its future.

    But Bezos isn't alone in calling the shots from the company's 1.7 million square-foot headquarters in downtown Seattle. Here's a "who's who" of Amazon's top brass.

Jeff Bezos

CEO

    Amazon's CEO launched Amazon as an online bookstore in 1994, then turned it into a massive virtual mall.

    "One day after spending quite a lot of money of our original investors' in building our web site, Jeff decided to open that web site up to our competitors," recalled Marc Onetto, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations and Customer Service, during a college lecture in 2009. Though Bezos' decision was first met by criticism from some corners, Onetto believes it helped make Amazon the $34 billion-a-year business it is today.

    Eventually, Bezos would do the same thing with cloud computing services, letting customers rent out data storage and computing power. And with the Kindle, he essentially helped transform the modern-day book. Last December alone, the company sold upwards of four million Kindles, and Barclays Capital predicts Amazon could sell 21 million of its e-readers next year.