Jeff Bezos is to stand down from his role as Amazon CEO, the company announced Tuesday. He will become Executive Chairman in the third quarter of 2021.
Andy Jassy to Replace Jeff Bezos as Amazon CEO
Andy Jassy will become the next CEO of Amazon. He currently leads the company’s cloud business AWS, perhaps revealing where the company’s future intentions lie. Commenting on his transition, Mr. Bezos said:
Amazon is what it is because of invention. We do crazy things together and then make them normal. We pioneered customer reviews, 1-Click, personalized recommendations, Prime’s insanely-fast shipping, Just Walk Out shopping, the Climate Pledge, Kindle, Alexa, marketplace, infrastructure cloud computing, Career Choice, and much more. If you do it right, a few years after a surprising invention, the new thing has become normal. People yawn. That yawn is the greatest compliment an inventor can receive. When you look at our financial results, what you’re actually seeing are the long-run cumulative results of invention. Right now I see Amazon at its most inventive ever, making it an optimal time for this transition.
Mr. Bezos also posted a note to employees at Amazon. In it, he wrote:
As much as I still tap dance into the office, I’m excited about this transition. Millions of customers depend on us for our services, and more than a million employees depend on us for their livelihoods. Being the CEO of Amazon is a deep responsibility, and it’s consuming. When you have a responsibility like that, it’s hard to put attention on anything else. As Exec Chair I will 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. I’ve never had more energy, and this isn’t about retiring. I’m super passionate about the impact I think these organizations can have.
Record-Breaking Quarter
The news of Mr. Bezos’s transition from CEO came as the firm he founded announced net sales of US$125.56 billion for the last quarter of 2020, the first time it has cleared the US$100 billion mark. That was a 44 percent increase from the same quarter last year when it brought in $87.4 billion.