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- Amazon said on Tuesday that its founder Jeff Bezos will step down as CEO in the third quarter of 2021 to take on the position of Executive Chairman
- The keys will be handed to Andy Jassy, head of the retail giant’s cloud computing division Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Under Jassy’s guidance, AWS’s quarterly revenue has consistently risen by double digits, signing contracts with Verizon, McDonald’s and Honeywell
- Bezos said he would stay engaged with the company but have more time for “the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions”
- The transition comes as Amazon’s net sales soar to more than US$125 billion (roughly A$165 billion) thanks to an increase in U.S. online spending
Amazon said on Tuesday that its founder Jeff Bezos will step down as CEO in the third quarter of 2021 to take on the position of Executive Chairman.
The keys will be handed to Andy Jassy, head of the retail giant’s cloud computing division Amazon Web Services (AWS), thereby ending the long-standing question of who would succeed the world’s second richest man.
Jassy, who joined Amazon in 1997 after Harvard Business School, had been a clear contender for the top spot after two CEO roles reporting to Bezos were created — the other being recently retired Jeff Wilke who was CEO of the company’s consumer division.
Tom Johnson, chief transformation officer at New York-based media agency Mindshare Worldwide, said the appointment hints at the importance of web services to Amazon’s future.
“Jassy’s background in steering AWS shows just how top of mind those services are to Amazon’s business strategy,” he said. “It’ll be interesting to see how that affects their strategy and balancing that priority with a growing ad business and the commerce behemoth,” he added.
Under Jassy’s guidance, AWS’s quarterly revenue has consistently risen by double digits, signing major contracts with the likes of Verizon, McDonald’s and Honeywell, solidifying its position as the market leader.
In a note to employees on Amazon’s website, Bezos — who started the company as a web-based bookseller in 1994 — said as Executive Chairman he would “stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin The Washington Post, and my other passions.”
His transition comes as Amazon’s net sales skyrocket to just over US$125 billion (roughly A$165.08 billion), beating analyst estimates of US$119.7 billion (roughly A$157.38 billion), as stay-at-home mandates in the U.S. drive a greater adoption of online shopping.
