Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s recent win over Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the acquisition of Twitch Interactive came down to the internet commerce giant’s reputation with past acquisitions and its vision of the gaming industry, Emmett Shear, the chief executive officer of Twitch, told Trish Regan and Cory Johnson in a segment of Bloomberg “Street Smart”.
According to Shear, when he met with Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) founder and CEO Jeff Bezos about the acquisition, it was clear to him that their vision of the video game industry’s future were in sync.
“[…] I got to meet with Jeff [Bezos and the team] and hear their vision for where they though gaming was going and talk to them about where we thought it was going and it was just very clear we had a shared vision for where we thought the gaming industry was going and how Twitch would play into that,” Shear explained.
Furthermore, the Twitch Interactive CEO said that Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s founder shared with him “a love for independence”. In the acquisition, Shear would remain as the top executive of his company. The CEO said that past acquisitions of the internet retail giant assure him that he and his team will remain in charge of his company’s future.
“Amazon has an amazing track record for these kinds of acquisitions. Look at IMDb which they bought more than a decade ago. It’s still being run by the original founding team. That gave me deep comfort that Amazon was really serious about providing us that level of independence and support,” Shear said.
The comment from the top executive of Twitch Interactive comes after Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and his company have announced that the retail giant has agreed to buy the video game streaming company for $970 million. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was initially reported to have agreed to buy Twitch Interactive for $1 billion until the e-commerce behemoth announced its acquisition of the company.
Observers noted that the company would be a good fit for Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) especially with its YouTube team. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal said in a report that Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) “expressed interest in Twitch”.
Meanwhile, Shear also discussed in the interview how he and his team underestimated how big they could become in a span of three years. Furthermore, the CEO also shared what his plans for the company are now that they have the backing of the internet commerce behemoth.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shareholders includes Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management which reported about 2.47 million shares in the company by the end of the first half of the year. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shareholders includes Stanley Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Capital which reported 259,610 shares in the company in the same period.
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