World’s richest man Jeff Bezos, 57, steps down as Amazon CEO and will be replaced by Andy Jassy
- Bezos told staff he will become Executive Chair in the third quarter of this year
- He founded Amazon with his ex-wife MacKenzie Bezos in 1993
- The company is now worth $1.7trillion and Bezos is the richest man in the world
- He is followed by Elon Musk and the pair often trade the title depending on how their respective businesses perform in the markets
- Bezos will be replaced by Andy Jassy who currently CEO of Amazon Web Services
- Jassy was recently described by Amazon staff as a ‘shark’ who can ‘smell blood’
- It was his decision to end AWS’ business with Parler, the unregulated social media site, after the January 6 Capitol riot
Jeff Bezos is stepping down as the CEO of Amazon, 28 years after founding it with his ex-wife and building it into one of the most successful companies of all time that is now worth $1.7trillion.
He will be replaced by Andy Jassy, the current CEO of Amazon Web Services. Bezos will move to the role of Executive Chair in the third quarter of this year, he said, to ‘focus on new products and early initiatives’.
In an email to staff, Bezos said: ‘Fellow Amazonians,
‘I’m excited to announce that this Q3 I’ll transition to Executive Chair of the Amazon Board and Andy Jassy will become CEO.
Bezos will be replaced by Andy Jassy. He will move to the role of Executive Chair, the company said
Bezos will be replaced by Amazon Web Services CEO, Andy Jassy
‘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 founded Amazon in 1993 with his ex-wife MacKenzie.
It made him the richest man in the world with a net worth of $188billion.
Amazon’s share price went up by 1.1 percent after the announcement but were not dramatically changed.
In January 2019, Bezos and MacKenzie announced they were divorcing after it was revealed he had been having a relationship with TV personality Lauren Sanchez.
The divorce split the company stocks, and made MacKenzie the richest woman in the world with a settlement of around $38billion.
That nearly doubled throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as Amazon – one of the only retailers that could continue because of its online retail model – thrived.
MacKenzie has put her ex-husband to shame in recent months with her charitable giving.
Bezos didn’t explain the timing for the announcement on Tuesday.
Jassy was recently hailed by Amazon employees as a decisive ‘shark’. It was his decision to end Amazon’s business with Parler, an unregulated social media site favored by the alt-right that was used, in part, to orchestrate the January 6 Capitol riot.
‘He has a tremendous amount of trust in his team, but you have to be at the highest levels of diligence and preparation for any meeting with him.
‘He’s a shark who will smell a drop of blood from 100 miles away if you’re not ready,’ one employee told Business Insider on January 31 in a profile about how he could become the next CEO.
Amazon shares were largely unaffected at the time of the announcement on Tuesday afternoon
Amazon’s share price has grown hugely not only since Bezos and MacKenzie divorced but since the start of the pandemic. The company is worth more than $trillion now