Amazon May Never Be The Same After Bezos Made This A Huge Announcement

The multimillionaire has been at the top of the company since its conception in 1994 but he announced on Tuesday that he will be stepping down from his role in the third quarter of 2021.

Bezos will be transitioning to executive chair of the company. Andy Jassy, who currently leads Amazon Web Services (AWS), is set to take over as CEO of the company, Amazon said in a statement. Jassy has been with the company for nearly 24 years, according to his LinkedIn.

“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,” Bezos wrote in a letter to employees published online. “He will be an outstanding leader, and he has my full confidence.”

“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,” he added. “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.”

Charlie O’Shea, lead retail analyst at Moody’s Investors Services, said Bezos’ departure and replacement with Jassy would be an “absolutely seamless transition.”

“Andy has done a terrific job of AWS, I mean the numbers bear that out,” O’Shea added. “AWS continues to be the profit engine of the company and supports the retail business as a continuing investment.”

Bezos’ announcement came parallel with Amazon’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report, which exceeded expectations. As the third-largest company in the world revenue hit a record high of $125.56 billion compared to consensus estimates of $119.70 billion.