Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will admit that his company should be scrutinized when he testifies before the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel on Wednesday.
But the tech mogul is also expected to defend the e-commerce giant to lawmakers, who are probing how the business practices and data gathering of Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple have hurt smaller rivals.
“I believe Amazon should be scrutinized,” Bezos, 56, said in written testimony released Tuesday, ahead of the unprecedented congressional hearing.
“We should scrutinize all large institutions, whether they’re companies, government agencies, or non-profits. Our responsibility is to make sure we pass such scrutiny with flying colors.”
The entrepreneur will argue that Amazon faces fierce competition from large rivals, including Target, Costco, Kroger and Walmart, which is more than twice its size.
Testifying for the first time before Congress, Bezos, the world’s richest person, will paint his company as an inspiring American “success” story, detailing challenges he faced while trying to launch the online giant in the mid-1990s.
He’ll strike a defiant note, too, saying that “when you look in the mirror, assess the criticism, and still believe you’re doing the right thing, no force in the world should be able to move you.”
Bezos is to be grilled along with chief executives Tim Cook of Apple, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Sundar Pichai of Google and its parent firm Alphabet.
