Bezos snubbed Musk's SpaceX for huge satellite launch contract, Amazon shareholder says

An Amazon shareholder lawsuit says the company snubbed SpaceX for valuable satellite launch contracts because of Jeff Bezos' personal rivalry with Elon Musk, who has taunted his fellow billionaire's space ambitions for years, according to CNBC.
Cleveland Bakers and Teamsters Pension Fund, or CB&T, filed a shareholder complaint on behalf of Amazon in the Delaware Court of Chancery on Monday.
The pension fund's lawsuit centers around Amazon's blockbuster purchase of rocket launches for its Project Kuiper satellite internet system. The suit emphasizes the rivalry between Bezos and Musk, featuring screenshots of the SpaceX and Tesla chief's social media taunts about the Amazon founder's space efforts at the e-commerce giant and his space company, Blue Origin.
Last year, Amazon announced what it called the biggest rocket deal in the commercial space industry's history, signing launch contracts with United Launch Alliance (ULA), Arianespace, and Bezos' Blue Origin. In its May annual shareholders meeting, Amazon disclosed it expects to pay about $7.4 billion for launch services through 2028, with $2.7 billion expected to go to Bezos' wholly owned Blue Origin.
CB&T alleges that Bezos, Amazon's executive chair - as well as CEO Andy Jassy and members of the company's board of directors who also serve on its audit committee - "consciously and intentionally breached their most basic fiduciary responsibilities" by awarding contracts for Kuiper missions on a trio or rockets that have yet to launch and are years behind schedule.
The lawsuit adds that Amazon leadership "excluded the most obvious and affordable launch provider, SpaceX, from its procurement process because of Bezos' personal rivalry with Musk."
SpaceX is the leading rocket provider in the world, with its Falcon 9 rockets advertised at a comparatively low market price of about $70 million per launch. In 2023, the company is flying rockets at a record-setting pace, with a launch about every four days on average.
Amazon rejected the lawsuit's claims.
"The claims in this lawsuit are completely without merit, and we look forward to showing that through the legal process," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC.
Blue Origin has yet to provide a statement in response to CNBC's request for comment on the lawsuit.
CB&T, represented by New York-based Grant & Eisenhofer, alleged two counts of breach of fiduciary duty against the defendants. CB&T did not disclose the size of its Amazon stake, nor its total assets under management.
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The suit alleges that Amazon leadership failed to conduct "any meaningful analysis" on the rocket launch market, and approved the contracts after "two cursory meetings" and without protecting negotiations "from Bezos' glaring conflict of interest."
In July 2020, CB&T said that Bezos led Amazon management in telling the company's audit committee that discussions were under way with Blue Origin and three other companies for launch contracts, but SpaceX "was not among the four" options.
The suit also alleges the Bezos-led team did "not even consider SpaceX," and the Amazon audit committee did not ask for or receive updates on the negotiations for nearly 18 months. Contract values, and how much Amazon is paying in total for the launches, are redacted in the lawsuit.