After 27 years, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos decides to step down as CEO of his creation.
In completely unexpected news, Amazon announced that Jeff Bezos will step down as CEO during the third quarter of 2021 and move to the Amazon board of directors as executive chairman. His place will be taken by Andy Jassy, who is still the head of Amazon Web Services.
Bezos said, “Amazon is what it is because of invention. […] 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.”
The still CEO highlighted that Amazon had been a pioneer in e-commerce by inventing systems such as one-click shopping, making personalized recommendations, and offering instant shipping thanks to Prime. Without forgetting, of course, complementary technologies that came later.
With resignation, Jeff Bezos will be able to focus on other personal projects and companies that he owns. Such as Blue Origin and the prestigious newspaper The Washington Post.
Bezos founded Amazon in 1994. According to its own information, the company is the market leader in online trading. Bezos had the idea for the mail-order business, which initially only had books in its range, together with David E. Shaw, for whom he was working at the time. Bezos started his own business because Shaw was not convinced of the business idea. The website went online in 1995, and the company went public in 1997.
