UPS and FedEx tried to mitigate Amazon’s corrosive effects by levying surcharges and capping its use of their air freight networks over the holidays. Amazon executives didn’t appreciate that. Four employees from that time told me they heard Clark and other senior Amazon executives gripe about FedEx and say that its founder, Fred Smith, “surrounds himself with sycophants and has completely off-the-charts arrogance.” The obvious irony, even to Clark’s employees, was that this could describe Amazon’s senior leaders too.
