Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN): Jeff Bezos is a Business Insider – Literally

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is known for investing heavily in its company, putting forth much of its money into expanding infrastructure, driving down costs of goods and services and putting forth a strong customer experience. Very few might think that CEO Jeff Bezos would be focusing much on other investments, since Amazon.com is his baby.

But then, even Jeff Bezos has outside interests – and he’s apparently a big supporter of business media. Early Friday morning, an internal memo from Business Insider was  circulated, confirming that Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos is one of several people who have combined to invest about $5 million toward the operations of Business Insider.

Part of the memo reads: “This capital will allow us to continue to invest aggressively in many areas of the business, including editorial, tech/product, sales and marketing, subscriptions, and events. As we mentioned last night, it will also allow us to expand our office.”

So far, there is nothing from Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) or Bezos himself as to why he invested in a media entity or whether this is a step toward some larger goal – like, might Amazon.com make a play for BI and get into the business media environment?

“Jeff’s investment grew out of a dinner he and I had about a year ago,” the memo continued, written by Business Insider CEO and Editor-in-Chief Henry Blodget. “We talked about the business, and he was excited about it. A few months later, he expressed an interest in investing.

“Jeff’s vision, leadership, and philosophy at Amazon have inspired a whole generation of startups and entrepreneurs, including me. Amazon has always focused on customers first, knowing that, if they do a great job at that, everything else will take care of itself. This obsession with customers and long-term focus are the reasons that Amazon has been so successful. And this philosophy is something that we very much want to emulate.”

What are your thoughts about Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos investing in an online business publication? Do you see this as a personal investment in something that Bezos believes in, or is this a business transaction to benefit Amazon.com in the future? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

DISCLOSURE: I own no positions in any stock mentioned.