Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has now publicly denied a statement attributed to him by prediction platform Polymarket. Bezos accused the company of fabricating an advice he never gave. In a post shared on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) Ploymarket posted that Bezos has urged the Gen Z entrepreneurs to start their careers at McDonald’s or Palantir before launching their own business. However, Bezos denied any such advice and wrote, “Nope. Not sure why Polymarket made this up.”

What Jeff Bezos actually said

While Amazon founder rejected this specific claim, but he has spoken more broadly about the value of real-world experience. Speaking at the Italian Tech Week in November last year, Bezos stressed on the importance of early work experience especially in the fast-paced, customer-facing environment. He advised the young entrepreneurs to work at established companies before starting their own companies.“It is possible to drop out of college and be a great entrepreneur… but these people are the exception,” Bezos said. “Go work at a best practices company somewhere, where you can learn a lot of basic fundamental things. There’s still lots of time to start a company after you have absorbed it.”For those unaware, Bezos started Amazon out of his garage in 1994. He believes that entry-level jobs such as those at McDonald’s tech foundational skills which are important for long term success. He emphasised that such small roles are necessary as they instill skill like discipline, resilience and the ability to handle pressure. These are the traits that many Gen Z entrepreneurs may overlook in their rush to build startups.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk also joined the conversation

Elon Musk also joined the Polymarket and Jeff Bezos conversation. Elon Musk also weighed in on X, referencing President Donald Trump’s widely publicized stint at McDonald’s during the 2024 campaign. “Well, the President worked at McDonald’s and now he’s the President,” Musk quipped.