Do you know how much of Amazon is publicly traded? How much of Amazon is held by the Amazon management team? You're correct in asserting that the shareholders

Do you know how much of Amazon is publicly traded? How much of Amazon is held by the Amazon management team? You're correct in asserting that the shareholders are entitled to direct the board to do their will. However, you seem to be assuming that the publicly traded shares of Amazon a) have significant voting rights, b) are a large enough share to be significant, and c) are not held in majority by those within the company. I can't find information on either of these three... so I continue to assume it's entirely possible that Amazon's publicly traded share holders are a minority, with little voting rights.