The key point in the briefing (and the “developing” article is fairly brief) is that Amazon was considered the front-runner for contract, but Trump has a personal vendetta against Amazon/Bezos and also made comments that he’d get personally involved in the JEDI decision (Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure).
So of course this invites the question of whether petty politics influenced a $10B govt deal.
TL;DR: Bezos thinks the Post is an important institution for our democracy, and he believed he could help it recover financially by taking advantage of the internet.
> Haven't followed Bezos too closely, but, never thought of him to be a political person or saw anything where he made political comments.
You never considered the idea that the richest man in the world may be political?
It'd be more surprising for me to find out that he wasn't political; you don't accrue that kind of cash without playing political games at at least some point in your portfolio -- even if it's just for the opportunity to reduce your tax burdens.
Oh, I think he's political. I think he carefully tried not appearing that way though.
My point is, I don't think he bought the Post to be political or political reasons. I think he bought The Post because he's a rich collector of nice/novel/rare things..and it seemed like a fun hobby. At the time.
If someone wanted to sell me The Post or let's say WSJ for what I consider pocket change, I would most certainly be interested. Good journalism is something that is going away, but, the obscenely rich can curate and prop up.
I don't think Bezos is inherently political, but the world/US requires him to be so. Anyone in his position would have to be whether they want to or not.
I was also wondering why it's not being discussed much. It could be because HN is mostly non-political, although when I see political discussions come up there is a noticeable Republican slant.
I don't think he cares about any issue of monopoly. It has much more to do with negative coverage of Trump in the Washington Post. It appears Bezos has a very hands-off approach in terms of editorial direction there, but Trump still blames him for the coverage.
So of course this invites the question of whether petty politics influenced a $10B govt deal.