Amazon’s New CEO On the Record, Plus Leaders from Genentech and Salesforce

Andy Jassy of Amazon, Bret Taylor of Salesforce, Alexander Hardy of Genentech

This week was especially challenging for me, for two reasons: Sunday I flew to Seattle in my first work trip since the pandemic, to talk to Andy Jassy in his first broadcast interview — and first comprehensive interview of any kind — since he became CEO of Amazon this summer. Then on Tuesday, back at CNBC headquarters in the New York area, I launched a second weekly on-air segment, Working Lunch.

I was happy with how the Jassy interview turned out. We covered a lot of ground in 30 minutes, and we aired all of it on CNBC. I was also happy with how the first installment of Working Lunch turned out; and since it’s essentially the first time Fortt Knox is getting a consistent home on broadcast TV, that has big implications for the future.

To close out the week, I got to have a couple of conversations I thoroughly enjoyed. One was with the CEO of Genentech, one with the president of Salesforce. A sampling of everything, below:

Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO: CNBC Working Lunch

In the first edition of Working Lunch, my new segment on CNBC’s Power Lunch, I bring you up close with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. He once almost turned down a nebulous job offer from Jeff Bezos; now he’s the one hiring:

You can watch my full interview with Jassy here:

For the Future of Health Technology, Celebrate Uniqueness and Harness Data: Genentech CEO

Genentech CEO Alexander Hardy shared his excitement about opening up broader access to quality care, and talked about how his life experiences shaped his philosophy on leadership and management:

He Launched Google Maps, then Two Startups He Sold to Facebook and Salesforce: A 1:1 With Bret Taylor

Few tech leaders have the kind of innovation pedigree Salesforce President Bret Taylor can boast, from the original Google Maps to the precursor to Facebook’s News Feed, to enterprise software that works across multiple platforms. Don’t miss his perspective on pandemic productivity and the importance of trust for both individuals and organizations:

Before She Ran A $40 Billion Design Phenomenon, Melanie Perkins Sold Scarves

Design software company Canva just raised $200 million at a $40 billion valuation. That's a long way from when CEO Melanie Perkins was a little girl selling scarves in Perth. In this archive conversation from two years ago, I talked to her about it:

Big Holiday Quarter for iPhone 13? On the Other Hand

And let’s not forget my first weekly CNBC segment, now just over a year old. Can the iPhone13 deliver a big holiday quarter for Apple? Or will it be a slow year? I argue both sides in the latest edition of On the Other Hand, on CNBC's Squawk Box:

Check out The Black Experience in America: The Course, an online educational resource I researched, designed and built. A free PDF download is available to bring the material to kids, and the online interactive experience is made for adults.