LAST UPDATE | 11 hrs ago

WHAT DOES IT profit a multi-billionaire if he owns a hefty chunk of the world – and a stake in the galaxy beyond — but sells his soul?

Wednesday’s announcement that Jeff Bezos, currently the third-richest man in the world, had fired more than one-third of the Washington Post’s workforce was greeted with a mix of fury and incredulity – and a soupçon of black humour — as the White Knight who rode to the rescue of America’s most revered newspaper became its Grim Reaper. “We’re rewriting his obituary as we speak,” one reporter told me.

That Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Bezos would trade his reputation for a promise of future enrichment from the Trump administration is not surprising; he built his empire on billions of cut-price transactions for subpar goods.

Jeff Bezos. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

A year ago, Bezos’ net worth was put at $245 billion. At the time of writing, it had nudged up to $254 billion. To be your own Judas for such a measly sum is perhaps the clearest indication that in Trump’s Washington, integrity has been accorded junk bond status.

Since October 2024, when it became apparent that Trump was on track to return to the White House, Bezos has strategically spent his way into the good graces of his former nemesis. His seven-figure donation to the Inaugural Fund earned him a ringside seat alongside his fellow broligarchs. He’s one of the chief contributors to Trump’s ballroom fund, the gilded folly that, if realised, will almost certainly double as a mausoleum for its donors’ reputations.

Another $75 million was spent on the universally ridiculed Amazon documentary about Melania Trump – including a $28 million payment to the First Lady. He could have saved himself $50 million by simply writing her a no-strings-attached cheque.

Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

But public displays of abject servitude are the point for Trump. He’s not interested in discreet donations from Bezos, Cook, Zuckerberg or Musk. He demands the craven loyalty, the fulsome praise of those who previously reserved their flattery for the Obamas. Or the Clintons. Or the Kennedys.

It’s unsurprising that in an era when armed and masked federal ICE thugs in the US are sending toddlers to deportation camps, beating protesters to a pulp whilst........

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