Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, is stepping down from his position, as CNBC reported on Tuesday. Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Andy Jassy will replace Bezos as Amazon’s CEO during the third quarter of this year. Bezos will then transition into his role as the executive chair of Amazon’s board.
Bezos originally founded Amazon back in 1994. Of course, it has since grown into the most prominent online retailer since its humble beginnings as an online bookstore. Amazon surpassed the $1 trillion market cap in January 2020. Currently, the company is worth over $1.6 trillion. As for Jassy, he joined Amazon in 1997 and has led Amazon’s Web Services cloud team since it was first created. Much of Amazon’s profits are derived from Amazon’s Web Services. As CNBC noted, this news came alongside a recent earnings report for Amazon, which posted its first $100 billion quarter. Jassy’s division, AWS, reported 28% revenue growth for the fourth quarter. Over half of Amazon’s operating income, 52% to be exact, can be attributed to AWS.
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To announce this news, Bezos penned a message to his “fellow Amazonians” in which he explained the upcoming changes for the company. His statement began, “I’m excited to announce that this Q3 I’ll transition to Executive Chair of the Amazon Board and Andy Jassy will become CEO. In the Exec Chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives. Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have. He will be an outstanding leader, and he has my full confidence.” Bezos continued to express that he will be involved in Amazon’s most important projects, but that his decision to step down as CEO will allow him to spend more time on his Bezos Earth Fund, his Blue Origin spaceship company, The Washington Post, and the Amazon Day 1 fund.
Bezos ended his message to the company by writing that he is certain that Amazon is in a great position for the future. He noted, “We’re firing on all cylinders, just as the world needs us to.” The Amazon founder ended his statement with, “Keep inventing, and don’t despair when at first the idea looks crazy. Remember to wander. Let curiosity be your compass. It remains Day 1.”
