Shifting Gears: Meet Amazon's most important man who's not Jeff Bezos

Happy Friday and welcome to another issue of Shifting Gears, Business Insider's roundup of all things transportation from the week.

Have you ever heard of Dave Clark? I hadn't until a few months ago. The 21-year Amazon veteran started as a warehouse manager and worked his way up to a top lieutenant of CEO Jeff Bezos.

Now, he oversees the backbone of Amazon's e-commerce operations: getting goods from factory to warehouse to your door. Rachel Premack, Eugene Kim, and Hayley Peterson have the inside story of his rise to power here.

Before we jump into the rest of this week's news, don't forget you can sign up to receive this directly to your inbox by clicking here. Let's go:

• In other Amazon news, the company is reportedly in talks to buy secretive self-driving car company Zoox for less than $3.2 billion. Zoox hinted it's had interest from multiple buyers, and an industry expert tells Mark Matousek that an acquisition could help the retail giant tighten its grip on its delivery network.
• Elon Musk officially cleared the first of 12 levels that end in a $55 billion payday, Tesla said Thursday. The billionaire doesn't take a salary for running Tesla, and most of his wealth is tied up in stock. Now, he can buy even more shares at a big discount.
• Rental cars may be about to flood the used-car market as companies like Hertz go bankrupt. Here's why they're a great value for shoppers. People often think of used rental cars as low quality, but good deals can be had for careful shoppers.
• Leaked memo reveals American Airlines is offering up to a decade of free flights and frequent-flyer miles to some employees who voluntarily quit ahead of layoffs. The carrier released new voluntary buyout offers for its management and support employees ahead of layoffs planned for later this year.
• Fear and anger are growing inside United Airlines, where workers are slamming the company over pay cuts after it took billions of dollars in government bailout money Some workers say they have had their hours cut, resulting in less pay, but their workloads have stayed the same.
• Boeing will lay off nearly 7,000 workers as the industry is decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The company described the layoffs as "the first," with more expected later in the year.
• The $20 billion self-driving startup Cruise is adding to its leadership team even as autonomous-vehicle companies are hitting the brakes during the pandemic. Regina Dugan, a veteran of DARPA, Google, and Facebook, will be Cruise's first independent director on the company's board.
• This company will turn your Tesla Model 3 into a convertible for $29,500 — here's how it's done. An aftermarket company called Newport Convertible Engineering offers Tesla Model 3 convertible conversions, but they aren't cheap.
• Cruise-obsessed vacationers are desperate to set sail, even after high-profile coronavirus outbreaks on ships. We spoke with 18 cruisers about why they can't wait to cast off.
• 'Nobody's making money in this business': Uber's CEO defended a possible GrubHub merger amid criticism of the reported merger talks. Dara Khosrowshahi wouldn't confirm any details of the discussions, but he told Recode that consolidation in the space isn't necessarily a bad thing.
• Take a look inside the top luxury RV resort in the US, where lots sell for up to $800,000 and come with infinity pools and private boat docks. The 80-acre resort has a nine-hole golf course, a fitness center, multiple swimming pools, three tennis courts, and a 10,000-square-foot clubhouse.
• Finally, go read this fascinating interview with a woman who inherited Elon Musk's old cell phone number — and a constant barrage of texts and calls. A 25-year-old kept getting texts and calls from people trying to reach the billionaire — it turns out she had inherited his old phone number.