Amazon founder Jeff Bezos sharply criticized New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday for the city's handling of its public schools. He compared the system's performance to Amazon's operations and argued that much of the education budget fails to reach teachers. The comments came during a CNBC interview and prompted a quick response from the mayor.
Bezos spoke from a Blue Origin factory floor and said that running Amazon like New York City's school system would mean packages arriving after six weeks with a $100 delivery fee and often the wrong item. He pointed to the city's $44 billion education budget, which spends about $44,000 per student, and claimed the funds are absorbed by bureaucracy rather than supporting educators directly. Bezos also called for eliminating taxes on lower-income working families instead of increasing burdens on the wealthy.