Amazon have been the subject of controversy in the past. In 2015, T he New York Times reported that Amazon exploits their workers with unforgiving management practices. The article caused such a public outcry that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos personally responded with an email to employees assuring them that he would not tolerate "callous" management practices. In November of last year An Amazon employee hurled himself from the company's Seattle offices in a suspected suicide attempt. The employee had recently been placed on an employee Performance Improvement Plan by Amazon and feared for his job. This week, TechCrunch reported that despite confidence from investors and rising stock prices, Amazon failed to deliver on their fourth-quarter earning expectations in 2016.