Having worked in corporate at Walmart, I don't find this weird at all. Especially coming from early employees (from whom I presume these came), many of whom probably made a decent chunk of change from the performance of the company's stock since the early days.
Sam Walton, the late founder of Walmart, is revered as something of a demigod by the early Walmart employees (many of whom are still around). This is especially true of early administrative, distribution, and store-level employees. These folks had limited prospects and came for stable employment -- but they were rewarded beyond their wildest expectations when the company grew from a regional general store into a $100B+ business in a little over a decade. Early Walmart employees speak of "Mr. Sam" (as they call him) the way we speak of George Washington or Thomas Jefferson.
I wouldn't be surprised if early Amazon employees have a similar reverence for Jeff Bezos.
Reading Sam Walton's autobiography has had a huge influence on my life, I found it quite inspiring as a teenager. I grew up in Southwest Missouri, and remember Walmart being the "local" chain, as compared to say, Kmart, their bigger, national competitor.
All that said, I do not agree with many of the decisions the company has made sense Sam Walton's departure. I find many of the companies current philosophies to be in direct opposition to those that Sam Walton espoused in his own autobiography.
Sam Walton, the late founder of Walmart, is revered as something of a demigod by the early Walmart employees (many of whom are still around). This is especially true of early administrative, distribution, and store-level employees. These folks had limited prospects and came for stable employment -- but they were rewarded beyond their wildest expectations when the company grew from a regional general store into a $100B+ business in a little over a decade. Early Walmart employees speak of "Mr. Sam" (as they call him) the way we speak of George Washington or Thomas Jefferson.
I wouldn't be surprised if early Amazon employees have a similar reverence for Jeff Bezos.