Amazon shareholders says SpaceX was snubbed in huge contract deal.
Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk have long had a rivalry—but shareholders believe it’s the root of an Amazon contract decision.
Elon Musk is known for his rivalries with Big Tech titans—and now shareholders at Amazon are claiming this was a factor influencing a deal worth billions of dollars.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and the Tesla CEO appear to have had a feud rumbling on for years, driven largely by competition to win the commercial race to space.
Last year Amazon announced the biggest rocket deal in the commercial space sector’s history. Amazon was offering contracts for Project Kuiper—a chance to launch low Earth orbit satellites which would be used for internet services.
The project, which Amazon confirmed it will invest $10 billion in, signed up three contractors—the United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, European company Arianespace, and Blue Origin, a private venture founded by Bezos himself.
But missing from the line-up is Musk-founded SpaceX, which has reportedly already launched approximately 5,000 internet satellites since 2019 for its own rival service, Starlink.
But despite it being a direct competitor, Amazon shareholder Cleveland Bakers and Teamsters Pension Fund (CB&T) has filed a complaint against Bezos and the board of the online giant—for not appropriately vetting SpaceX as a viable option for Project Kuiper.
The filing emphasizes the rivalry between Bezos and Musk, even featuring screenshots of posts on X—formerly Twitter—where the pair have taunted each other over various space expeditions, CNBC reports.
The filing reportedly adds Amazon executives—including current CEO Andy Jassy—“consciously and intentionally breached their most basic fiduciary responsibilities” by awarding the work to the trio and disregarding SpaceX in the proceedings.
The filing adds Amazon’s leadership “excluded the most obvious and affordable launch provider, SpaceX, from its procurement process because of Bezos’ personal rivalry with Musk,” per CNBC.
“Bezos, it must be assumed, could not swallow his pride to seek his bitter rival’s help to launch Amazon’s satellites,” the suit reportedly adds.
Amazon has dismissed the lawsuit. A spokesperson for the company told Fortune: “The claims in this lawsuit are completely without merit, and we look forward to showing that through the legal process.”
It is unclear whether SpaceX even submitted a bid for the work, or expressed any interest in helping a rival service launch their own satellites.
Source: Eleanor Prinkle
D-Ample Newspaper 