Stop thinking of Amazon as a business. Start thinking of it as tightly managed private VC fund with a shared management structure. As successful startups start spinning off cash, it reinvests in more startups. Most fail, some succeed, and the cycle continues. As long as they do this well, the result is no profit and rapid growth.
Amazon can turn a substantial profit at any moment that they want by just cutting back on this internal reinvestment cycle. The second that they do, that will be a sign that they have internal trouble.
Stop thinking of Amazon as a business. Start thinking of it as tightly managed private VC fund with a shared management structure. As successful startups start spinning off cash, it reinvests in more startups. Most fail, some succeed, and the cycle continues. As long as they do this well, the result is no profit and rapid growth.
Amazon can turn a substantial profit at any moment that they want by just cutting back on this internal reinvestment cycle. The second that they do, that will be a sign that they have internal trouble.