Show Notes
Jeff Bezos’ rise to the top of the Fortune 500 and Global 500 list wasn't an accident. In our pilot episode, Kristin Stoller shares exclusive insights from her interview with Bezos, including his philosophy on “customer obsession” and why early failures like Amazon Prime were actually essential.
Plus, Phil Wahba joins to discuss how Barnes & Noble is pivoting by learning from independent bookstores and we talk about the big number on AI spending with Emily Forlini.
Subscribe to Fortune Daily for more deep dives into the world's most powerful companies.
Read more on Fortune.com
Follow our reporters:
Ellie Austin: https://fortune.com/author/ellie-austin/
Phil Wahba: https://fortune.com/author/phil-wahba/
Emily Forlini: https://fortune.com/author/emily-forlini/
Chapters00:00 Introduction00:25 Introducing Fortune Daily01:07 Bonding with the Yen02:14 The Oracle of AI Spending03:36 IKEA: Assembling a New Approach05:00 Barnes & Noble’s Comeback with Phil Wahba08:02: Introducing Kristin Stoller’s interview with Jeff Bezos Interview08:45 How to get Jeff Bezos on the phone11:05: What is “customer obsession”?12:06: Jeff Bezos’ glow up13:02: How Bezos deals with failure14:21: How Amazon dethroned Walmart15:32: Is Amazon taking over the world?17:17: Criticisms of Bezos stepping down18:25: The future of Amazon19:20 Closing
More from Fortune Daily
Read Sebastian's article: https://fortune.com/2026/10/20/the-non-gamer-ceo-racing-to-save-microsofts-xbox/
What if you're not bad with money, and the advice you grew up with just stopped working?
Is it a financial market, or is it gambling? The answer could be worth $36 billion.
Steven Bartlett built The Diary of a CEO from his bedroom into one of the largest podcasts in the world- now he’s on track to overtake Joe Rogan. But what responsibility comes with a platform reaching over 100 million monthly listeners?
What happens when a platform built entirely on human connection faces an internet flooded with AI-generated people?