Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos To Step Down; Who Will Be His Successor?

| Updated: Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 11:17 [IST]

Amazon has earned the title of one of the largest e-commerce retailers in the world. However, a lot of things are about to change for the company in the coming months. The founder and CEO - Jeff Bezos is going to step down and will continue his association as the executive chairman. Bezos will be handing over the reins to Andy Jassy.

Why Is Jeff Bezos Stepping Down?

For all those wondering, Bezos isn't retiring. "I've never had more energy, and this isn't about retiring," he said in a note to his employees, published on the Amazon website. "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 said.

Looking back, Jeff Bezos started Amazon nearly 27 years ago as an internet bookstore. Today, the company has outgrown its initial borders to become one of the largest internet retailers and even expanded into cloud services and so on. To note, Amazon's net sales rose to USD 125.56 billion at the end of 2020 - the highest we've seen so far.

Who Is Andy Jassy?

This brings us to the next-in-line leadership, Andy Jassy, the head of Amazon Web Services. Jassy is considered as one of the brightest minds at Amazon, one of the key pioneers who helped push the company outside its core business. He's also instrumental in innovating cloud-based services to tech companies across the globe.

It looks like Jassy will be bringing in long-term reinvention into Amazon now. "You want to be reinventing when you are healthy, you want to be reinventing all the time," he was quoted by Reuters back in 2020.

Amazon CEO Change: How Will It Effect?

Change in leadership at large companies has a direct effect on the market and shares. From the looks of it, the market has responded well to Bezos's announcement. Amazon shares are still booming. It's going to be business as usual at Amazon with a couple of tweaks from the new leadership.