When Amazon Channels Carnegie: Capital Intensity and the Competitive Moat

How Andy Jassy's $118 Billion Bet Mirrors the Industrial Titan Who Revolutionized Steel

This deep-dive is part of Operating’s multi-part series analyzing Amazon’s transformation strategy. If you haven’t yet read the anchor piece—“The Optimization Company: Amazon’s Algorithmic Reckoning”—start there for the full context on Amazon’s $118 billion capital strategy, earnings trajectory from Q4 2023 through Q2 2025, and the systematic decoupling of growth from employment that has Wall Street confused but operators riveted. That comprehensive analysis examined what Amazon is doing. This exclusive piece examines the historical precedent: how Andy Jassy’s current playbook directly channels Andrew Carnegie’s industrial dominance strategy from the 1870s to the 1900s. For paid subscribers seeking to understand not just Amazon’s moves but the 150-year pattern of capital intensity creating competitive moats, this is essential reading.

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