Jeff Bezos' Leadership Style To Drive Lyft's Turnaround, Says CEO: 'Copying His Strategy That Worked…For Amazon'

After announcing the decision to lay off more than 1,000 employees, David Risher, the new CEO of Lyft Inc LYFT, said he plans to use his previous experience working for Amazon.com Inc AMZN and with Jeff Bezos to lead the rideshare company to success. 

What Happened: Risher, who had a difficult start to his tenure, said he hopes to learn from the Amazon founder's strategies to improve Lyft’s situation.

"We're going to focus on customers," Risher told CNN, alluding to Amazon's guiding principle. 

"That's a fundamental, just truth of business – if you can create a business that, really, your customers love, you can do amazing things for the world."

After Risher took over as the new CEO, Lyft introduced new features that are designed to alleviate some of the difficulties associated with summer travel. "You can outsource a lot of that stress to us, that's what we want to do. And that really is Jeff Bezos," Risher said. 

"I'm just copying his strategy that worked pretty well for Amazon. I think it can work pretty well for Lyft and our customers," he added.

Why It Matters: Risher was Amazon's 37th employee, and Bezos has thanked him for his contributions with a note on the site. This note remains on the site over 20 years after Risher left the company.

Meanwhile, as Risher takes on to restore Lyft’s financial situation, he is surrounded by competition from Uber, which has demonstrated renewed strength in recent quarters. Since going public in 2019, Lyft has shed nearly 90% of its market value.