Jeff Bezos Is Stepping down as Amazon CEO After Almost 27 Years

- Jeff Bezos will be retiring from the role of Executive Chair of the Amazon Board later this year

- The role of CEO will be taken over Andy Jassy, who currently serves as CEO of Amazon Web Services

- Bezos said he will be focusing on Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post and other passions

- He described the role of Amazon CEO as a deep and consuming responsibility that doesn't give the office holder the luxury of concentrating on anything else

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Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has announced he will be stepping down as the company's CEO.

In a letter to employees on Tuesday, February 2, Bezos said he would be exiting the role of Executive Chair of the Amazon Board.

The position of CEO will be taken by Andy Jassy, who joined the multi-national technology company around 1997, about two years after it was founded.

Jassy, who Bezos described as an outstanding leader and "has my full confidence", currently serves as CEO of Amazon Web Services. The wing is the firm's biggest profit driver, according to CNN.

"Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have," Bezos wrote.

As Executive Chair of the Amazon Board, the business magnate said he will be focusing on "new products and early initiatives".

Insisting the transition was not a form of retirement, the 57-year-old investor said he would stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives.

He was, however, quick to reveal that he would now have chance to channel his energies on Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post and "my other passions".

"I have never had more energy, and this isn’t about retiring. I’m super passionate about the impact I think these organisations can have," he continued.

Bezos reminisced about the maiden days of Amazon when almost everyone perceived his business venture as a wild dream that that would never come true.

Some of his critics, he said, even poked fun at him, asking what the internet was.

"This journey began some 27 years ago. Amazon was only an idea, and it had no name. The question I was asked most frequently at that time was, “What’s the internet?” Blessedly, I haven’t had to explain that in a long while.

"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 said.

As of Wednesday, February 3, Bezos was at the top of Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires list with a nett worth of billions, ahead of SpaceX CEO South African-born Elon Musk.

Amazon is among a number of companies whose fortunes multiplied after the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in late 2019. The company is, however, facing opposition after it announced it had plans to set up a giant Warehouse in Fourne, France.

Demonstrations erupted in France with activists claiming the project was earmarked for construction on 14 hectares of land classified as a historical monument and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In other business news, Briefly.co.za reported that Ford invested R15.8 Billion in its SA facilities to build the next Ranger. The Ford Motor Company is increasing its investment in the South African branch of its operations and has spent R15.8 billion to do so.

Ford announced its decision on Tuesday, 2 February and stated that the plans were to invest the money into upgrading the existing facilities in SA as well as create jobs across its organisation.

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Source: Briefly News