Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will be stepping down on Monday (July 5) as the chief executive of the company he founded almost 27 years ago.
Earlier this year, in an email to employees, he said he would now focus his "'energies and attention on new products and early initiatives." The announcement came as Amazon released its financial results for its fourth quarter that ended 31 December 2020.
On July 5, the Amazon founder's net worth was $203 billion and was the richest person in the world, as per Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Bezos, while announcing the news, had said that he is not stepping away from Amazon. According to the email to employees, he will transition to Executive Chair of the Amazon Board.
Going by the email, Bezos is "excited" about the upcoming transition. As he put it, this was not about retiring. Rather, Bezos is likely to focus on several ventures associated with the company—beyond its day-to-day functioning.
"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," he explained.
Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS) will take over. He has been a part of Amazon for more than two decades, having joined the company in 1997 as marketing manager. He had been a part of the founding team for AWS and became its CEO in 2016. "Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have," Bezos wrote on Tuesday.
