The 11th Hour Dispatch — Tuesday, October 2, 2018
BIG BUSINESS
After mounting pressure from critics, Amazon has increased its minimum wage to $15 per hour, nearly double the $7.25 per hour prior. This will affect over 250K full- and part-time employees and 100K seasonal employees of the e-commerce giant. In 2017, according to math from Money Magazine, CEO Jeff Bezos made $11.5 million per hour, which levels out to him making the equivalent of the median income of an Amazon employee in around nine seconds. Anyway, here’s a tearjerking video of Amazon SVP of Operations Dave Clark telling warehouse workers about the wage raise.
BINGE WATCH
Amazon has ordered The Wheel of Time, a series based on Robert Jordan’s bestselling fantasy novels. The books were adapted to the screen by Rafe Judkins, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. supervising producer and former Survivor contestant, who will also serve as showrunner of the series. Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television are co-producing the project, but the series will air on Amazon Prime Video. The Wheel of Time is set in a world of magical powers that only women can tap into. Amazon’s take will focus on the character Moiraine, who goes on a global journey with five people “because she believes one of them might be the reincarnation of an incredibly powerful individual, who prophecies say will either save humanity or destroy it,” which sounds like the plot of a boozy brunch gone wrong, but I digress. Jordan’s book series has sold over 90 million copies worldwide.
YOUNG MONEY
The Land of Dreams, Walmart, is acquiring plus-size clothing company Eloquii. It joins Walmart’s previous clothing acquisitions of the female-focused ModCloth, which also features a substantial plus-size section, and the menswear company Bonobos. No numbers were disclosed, but Recode reports that the deal is worth around $100 million. Founded in 2011 as part of The Limited, Eloquii has operated independently as an online store since 2014 with five U.S. brick-and-mortar locations. The women’s plus-size market sees $21.4 billion in annual sales and is growing faster than the U.S.’s apparel industry overall, so it’s likely a good investment for the big box store. According to MarketWatch, Eloquii has doubled its sales every year since 2014, accounting for $80 million in revenue in 2017. Walmart is currently ranked the largest U.S. apparel retailer, but, you guessed it, Amazon is expected to surpass it by the end of this year.
NOTHIN’ BUT ‘NET
BuzzFeed just informed me that candy corn pizza is a trend? Do y’all have no self respect?
SUBSCRIBE TO THE 11TH HOUR DISPATCH
The 11th Hour Dispatch is your daily dose of all things media without the boredom but with all the snark. We mash what you need to know with what we truly think into one hot mess of knowledge, just for you. Subscribe to get it live and in color in your inbox every weeknight.
