One particular salary has irked Sen. Bernie Sanders: He cites Amazon founder Jeff Bezos makes $275 million a day, this according to Time magazine.
“Jeff Bezos has so much money that he says the only way he could possibly spend it all is on space travel. Space travel. Have you ever heard of such a thing? It is absolutely absurd,” the Vermont independent and self-described socialist says in a new campaign email — which also launches a dramatic public petition against the tycoon.
“Mr. Bezos: It is long past time you start to pay your workers a living wage and improve working conditions at Amazon warehouses all across the country. It is beyond absurd that you would make more money in ten seconds than the median employee of Amazon makes in an entire year,” the petition states.
According to Forbes magazine, Mr. Bezos is now worth $151 billion.
“Meanwhile, thousands of Amazon employees are forced to rely on food stamps, Medicaid and public housing because their wages are too low. I don’t believe that ordinary Americans should be subsidizing the wealthiest person in the world because you pay your employees inadequate wages,” the petition says.
Mr. Sanders appears to favor petitions, meanwhile. In July, he also organized a public petition again Disney CEO Bob Iger, noting that the parent company is worth $150 billion and that Mr. Iger has a $423 million compensation package.
“This is not what Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck are supposed to be about. This does not sound like the happiest place on Earth to me,” Mr. Sanders advised at the time.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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