Jeff Bezos Is Resigning as Amazon CEO, Who Will Replace Him?

By Mary Anne R. First Posted: Feb 03, 2021 05:36 AM EST

E-commerce giant Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, would leave his chief executive post this year, transferring the spot to Andy Jassy, the company's cloud computing chief. The recent shift in the firm was announced on Tuesday.

Jeff Bezos will then transition to executive chairman of Amazon's board. The founder of the world's biggest online retailer turned around the fate of the company, which started as a one-time online bookstore.

The company had kept its succession plans quiet. But according to a CNBC report, onlookers thought it was either Jassy or Jeff Wilke who would be Bezos' eventual successor. Wilke is the mega-retailer company's worldwide consumer business CEO. He is set to retire this year. Meanwhile, Jassy, who is already 53 years old, will become CEO in the third quarter.

Jassy was known to have joined the company in 1997 and has led the Amazon's Web Services (AWS) cloud team since it began. AWS continues to drive much of Amazon's profit.

Bezos said in a letter that he is excited that he will transition to Executive Chair of the Amazon Board, while Jassy will become CEO.

"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 said.

Jeff Bezos has stepped back from the day-to-day operations of Amazon in recent years to focus more on his other interests, such as space exploration and his ownership of the Washington Post, according to a The Guardian report.

Jeff Bezos' Successor

Tim Hubbard, the assistant professor of management at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Busines, said Jassy's succession to the CEO role at Amazon is a natural fit as AWS is a powerhouse within the company, driving a lot of profitability.

Jeff Bezos may have the freedom to explore other ideas that he's been looking over the years with this shift. Hubbard noted that with Amazon's recent success despite the pandemic, it will be hard to disrupt its momentum.

Jeff Bezos earlier said that being the CEO of Amazon is a deep responsibility, adding that it is "consuming."

"When you have a responsibility like that it's hard to put attention on anything else," Bezos noted in an Express report.

Bezos steps away from his position in the company at a time when its market value estimates around $1.7 trillion, which makes it one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Brian Olsavsky, a chief financial officer at Amazon, said that Bezos is not leaving as he will be an executive chairman of the company.

Jeff Bezos said that he would stay active in important Amazon projects. But would also have more time to focus on the Bezos Earth Fund, his Blue Origin spaceship company, and the Amazon Day 1 Fund.

"Millions of customers depend on us for our services, and more than a million employees depend on us for their livelihoods," Bezos noted in a report.