How Populism is Taking on Tech

Populism has dramatically shifted global politics in recent years. Tech companies, particularly Amazon, have not been immune. Populism led to political pressure on the online retail giant, both in the U.S. and in India, as looked it searched for a second HQ and expanded into a new market. Bloomberg News looked at what happened.
Amazon thought it had secured a warm welcome in New York and forged strong political ties in India. In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo pledged during the HQ2 bakeoff to change his first name to “Amazon” and threw all of his political weight behind the deal. In India, Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos met repeatedly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in both Delhi and Washington and bragged on Twitter that he was “excited to keep investing and growing” in the country. In both cases, populism is now trumping politics. The political forces that are tilting elections and anointing new heroes on the left and right are now ensnaring one of the world’s largest companies.