Over the last two decades I have been the reluctant participant in three corporate buyouts. Each time, the suitor would come in and tell us “we love you, you’re perfect, don’t change.” This was followed after the acquisition by “these are the changes that will occur, and if you don’t like them, there’s the door.” This was followed in each case by money streaming unchecked out the door to the new owners, and within 18 months in each case bankruptcy.

Current Zappos shareholders and Amazon shareholders and employees, no need to worry.

Current Zappos employees – dust off your resume, and be prepared to spend time in the hot desert sun.

Expecting cultural and employment conditions to remain unchanged, especially in today’s volatile markets, is ludicrous. You may think the two entities are forming a mutually-beneficial partnership to survive in perpetuity, but in reality Amazon is swallowing Zappos. It will, in time, digest and absorb the assets(tangible/intangible/& personnel capabilities) to the point where Zappos will no longer be either whole or even recognizable. At that point and,depending on the economic climate at the time it happens, Amazon will execute its corporate authority to dismantle or entirely disolve any remains of Zappos in the name of “cost cutting/efficiency. This will most likely happen to “steamline” operations.
Hsieh’s professing that all employees will have continuing job security is akin to expecting Dorothy to be unchanged upon her return from experiences in OZ. And, stating that, “Tony, Alfred, and Fred are not leaving,” is possibly….comforting to the team. However, let the slightest conflict arise between and among each organizations’ top execs, and lo and behold numerous exit plans will be formulated by a variety of Amazon legal staff, and implementation will effect departures currently unforseen by anyone. Why should this marriage be different than any preceding corporate unions? Just get familiar with historical precedents of acquisitins by Apple, Time Warner, IBM, Qualcomm, Cisco, & Intel or sizeable oil industry purchases like BP’s take overs of ARCO & Std. Oil Co. of Indiana. Surviving execs have been the ones with the most control and power and, I would dare predict that T,A & F may be there in the future or….they may not. So, if I were to advise the Zappos’ teammembers, it would be to admonish them to hone their skills, maximise their education and technical abilities, and prepare a currently “polished” rendition of their current resume while, hopefully, having accumulated sufficient company stock to afford them and their families adequate financial wherewithall to weather any potential storm which may ensue from the announced acquistion by Amozon. And, I say by Amazon with confidence, because having no knowledge of merger details, I would venture to predict it will be Zappos’ stockholders who will receive a fractional share of Amazon stock in exchange for their Zappos’ shares…..not vice versa.
Best wishes though to all parties….and, the “beat goes on!”