Andy Jassy has officially replaced Jeff Bezos as Amazon’s CEO, who stood in the role for 27 years, having founded the company on July 5th, 1994.
KAMPALA | LIFESTYLE UGANDA — Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has stepped down from the role he has held since he founded the company exactly 27 years ago on July 5th, 1994, and was replaced by Andy Jassy.
Amazon now lists Andy Jassy as CEO in its investor relations website, after previously serving as Amazon Web Services’ CEO since 2003. Bezos is listed as exec chair, and the July 5th handover date was announced at Amazon’s shareholder meeting in May.
The move marks a significant milestone for Amazon, which has operated under the same CEO since the company’s inception. Under Bezos’ leadership, Amazon survived the dot-com bubble burst in late 1991 to become the world’s most dominant tech company.
In the US and parts of Europe, Amazon dominates online commerce. Amazon Web Services serves as a backbone for much of the modern web.
Andy Jassy, Bezos’ successor, graduated from Harvard Business School in 1997, joining Amazon in 1997, and leading Amazon Web Services since 2003. In 2016, he was appointed as the division’s CEO.
According to Synergy Research, Amazon controlled roughly one-third of the entire cloud computing market at the end of 2020, just slightly more than its closest competitors, Microsoft and Google.
Andy Jassy’s path resembles that of Satya Nadella, who oversaw Microsoft’s Azure cloud business before becoming the company’s CEO.
Bezos’ leadership of Amazon has seen its stock price rise tremendously. However, its labor practices, not to mention its excessive wealth, have been criticized for years.
Bezos allegedly did not pay federal income tax in 2007 or 2011, according to an investigation by ProPublica. Warehouse workers and delivery drivers have said productivity targets strain working conditions.
From Jeff Bezos to Andy Jassy
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With Bezos, Jassy is getting a company with ambitions that go far beyond electronic books, a company that’s willing to bet big on new areas of business.
In the consumer technology field, Amazon dominates the market with its range of Kindle, Echo, Ring, Eero devices, and its Amazon Basics offering.
Including Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores, it is expanding its presence in physical retail following its acquisition of Whole Foods.
In the entertainment industry, it recently bought film and television company MGM for $8.45 billion, its largest acquisition ever.
Additionally, Amazon Music and its video games division have previously been mentioned as investments Jassy has expressed his support for, not to mention its healthcare and fashion investments.
Bezos was one of the Big Tech CEOs asked to testify before Congress as part of its antitrust investigation last year due to Amazon’s size and practices.
Furthermore, the European Union announced a second antitrust investigation into Amazon in Europe, alleging that the company misused marketplace data.
Bloomberg says Bezos will not fade into obscurity anytime soon as the world’s wealthiest man.
Amazon’s chairman says he will “stay engaged in key Amazon initiatives”, and he’s committed to working more on other projects, such as The Washington Post, Bezos Earth Fund foundations, and Blue Origin space company.
Bezos will fly to the edge of space aboard a rocket built by Blue Origin at the end of July. His brother, Mark Bezos, will also board the crewed mission of the New Shepard.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will be beaten to space by fellow entrepreneur Richard Branson, who will be aboard the VSS Unity spacecraft on July 11th for a test flight.
