Bezos to step aside as CEO at Amazon
(pic c/o shutterstock)
Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon as an online bookstore and built it into a shopping and entertainment giant, will step down later this year as CEO, a role he’s had for nearly 30 years, to become executive chairman, the company has announced.
Bezos, 57, will be replaced in the summer by Andy Jassy, who runs Amazon’s cloud-computing business.
In a blog post to employees, Bezos said he planned to focus on new products and early initiatives being developed at Amazon. He said he would have more time for side projects, including his space exploration company Blue Origin, his philanthropic initiatives and overseeing The Washington Post, which he owns.
Bezos, who is the company’s biggest shareholder, will still have broad influence over Amazon.
Dirk Hoerig, CEO and Co-Founder, commercetools says:
“Nobody will be able to replace Jeff or fit into the deep footprints that he has left behind (as there was also nobody who could properly replace Steve Jobs when he passed away). That said I believe that Andy Jassy will do a phenomenal job continuing the growth of Amazon.com and its AWS cloud business that he ran until now. How Jeff will be able to focus on other companies and areas of interest will create additional potential and drive innovation in other fields of technology. I believe that this could be seen as another catalyst for the tech industry in the upcoming years.”
