Jeff Bezos stepped down as Amazon’s CEO on July 5, 2021 exactly 27 years since he founded the e-commerce company in a garage in West Bellevue, Wash. Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy has succeeded him as the new Amazon CEO.
Andy Jassy will now serve as President and CEO of Amazon.com and also serve on the Board of Directors. While Bezos will hand over his day-to-day duties to his longtime deputy Andy Jassy, he will continue to be the company’s executive chairman.
Jeff Bezos had founded Amazon exactly 27 years ago on July 5, 1994 and served as its CEO from April 2016 until July 2021. Bezos had announced in May that Andy Jassy will take over as the CEO of the e-commerce giant on July 5.
Jeff Bezos chose the date July 5 to step down because it is a sentimental one for him. He had said, “It’s the date that Amazon was incorporated in 1994, exactly 27 years ago.”
From a startup to world’s largest retailer
• Jeff Bezos had founded Amazon as an online bookstore in 1995 but soon he transformed it into a fast-growing online retailer for almost all products ranging from electronics to diapers. The company soon became the world’s largest online retailer.
• Under Bezos’ leadership, the company safely sailed through the dot-com bubble bursting in the early 2000s and then launched a period of ruthless expansion, pushing its influence far beyond Internet commerce.
• Amazon now not only commands online commerce but it has also a sizable business in grocery stores, cloud computing, smart devices, filmmaking and even fashion brands.
• Bezos had informed his employees about his plans to step down and hand over the reins to Jassy earlier this year itself on February 2, 2021. He had said that this would allow him to focus on other projects such as his philanthropic pursuits addressing climate change and his space exploration company Blue Origin.
• He had assured that this isn’t about retirement. Speaking on his successor, Bezos said that Andy Jassy has been at Amazon almost as long as he has. He gave his full support to Andy Jassy and expressed confidence that he will be an outstanding leader.
• Bezos will continue to remain Amazon’s largest shareholder.
About Andy Jassy
• Andy Jassy had joined Amazon in 1997 and he has since then held various leadership roles across the company, including both business-to-business and business-to-consumer.
• He was later appointed as the CEO of Amazon Web Services.
• It is estimated that about half of Amazon’s revenue comes from AWS, which is the cloud arm of Amazon. The platform had logged a $54 billion annualized run rate in the March quarter this year, which amounts to a 32 percent year-over-year growth.
Jeff Bezos to fly to edge of spaceJeff Bezos is also the founder of aerospace company Blue Origin, which is working to develop safe and low-cost spaceflight. He is planning to fly to the edge of space along with his brother Mark onboard his company Blue Origin’s tourism rocket – New Shepard –on July 20. |
Background
Amazon had announced on February 2, 2021 that founder Jeff Bezos will step down as CEO of the company during the third quarter of 2021.
Jeff Bezos is currently the richest person in the world with a net worth of $177 B. He was named the “richest man in modern history” after his net worth increased to USD 150 billion in July 2018.
Bezos had become the first person in history to have a net worth exceeding $200 billion in August 2020.