Founder and CEO of the multi-national technology company, Amazon, Jeff Bezos would leave his post later this year, handing over the executive affairs of the company’s to Andy Jassy.
The Executive change was decided in consultation with Amazon board of directors , who saw the need of continuity in transition.
This Transition would take effect in the second half of 2021, the company said.
Exclusively, Amazon had kept its succession discreet; although there were speculations that either Jassy or Jeffrey Wilke (Amazon’s Consumer CEO) would become Bezo’s eventual successor, not until Wilke announced his retirement.
Jassy, 53, joined Amazon in 1997, and was the CEO of Amazon Web Service (AWS) since its inception. He created much profit leading AWS. Under his leadership, revenue growth for the fourth quarter recorded 28%. About 52% of Amazon operating income was attributed to AWS as of October 2020.
Mr Bezos, 57, has led Amazon since 1994, as an online bookshop to a mega retailer with global reach of various different categories from gadgets to groceries. In January last year Amazon surpassed $1 trillion market cap, currently worth more than $1.6 trillion under his leadership.
Jeff Bezos expressed his excitement as he made the announcement in a letter to employees.
“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 said.
He added, “Millions of customers depends on us for our services; more than a million employees depend on us for their livelihood. 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.”
Ijeoma Njoku reporting, Obinwannem News
