One of the world’s richest man and co-founder of Amazon Jeff Bezos has decided to step down from the post of CEO, turning the helm over to the company’s top executive Andy Jassy. Here’s what you need to know about Amazon’s new CEO.
To recall, Jeff Bezos started Amazon.com as an online bookstore in 1994 from his garage. He along with a few employees started developing the software for the site. In one of the old interviews with CNBC, Bezos remembered that his journey was full of struggles and there was a time when he was delivering package himself. Jeff’s determination helped Amazon emerge as one of the biggest companies in the world. Under his leadership, the company surpassed a $1 trillion market cap in January 2019. It is now worth more than $1.6 trillion. But now, Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos announced that he would step down as the CEO of the company later this year. Andy Jassy who started AWS, Amazon’s cloud service platform in 2006, will take over as the new CEO of the company.
Currently, Amazon is the world’s largest online sales company and the world’s largest provider of virtual assistants and cloud infrastructure services through its Amazon Web Services divisions. Bezos announced he will continue to stay engaged in important Amazon projects and he will focus on the Bezos Earth Fund, his Blue Origin Space Ship company.
Bezos’ Journey into the Future
Jeffrey Preston Bezos was born on January 12 1964 in Albuquerque. Raised in Houston, he graduated from Princeton University in 1986 in electrical engineering and computer science. Amazon was born to Bezos after writing its business plan on a cross-country road trip from New York to Seattle. The company began as an online bookstore and then expanded to a wide variety of other e-commerce products and services. Bezos founded Blue Origin, a human spaceflight startup in September 2000. He had expressed his interest in space travel and the development of human life in the solar system.
Until 2006, Blue Origin maintained a low profile but it caught attention when Bezos purchased a large tract of land in Texas for launch and test facility. Bezos also supports philanthropic efforts through direct donations and non-profits projects funded by Bezos expeditions.
Bezos is just stepping down as Amazon’s CEO, but he won’t retire now. He will announce his transition to Executive Chair of the Amazon Board in this Q3. In his new role, the billionaire mogul will continue to engage in company’s upcoming rollouts. He intends to focus more on the Bezos Earth Fund and Blue Origin Space Ship company.
Andy Jassy – The New King of Amazon
Andy Jassy, who heads one of the most important branches in Amazon, joined the company in 1997 right after completing his graduation from Harvard College will be replacing co-founder Jeff Bezos later this year.
Andy Jassy, the future CEO of Amazon may not be widely known outside the tech industry but he is the most integral part of the company. Jassy head the most important division of the company, the Amazon Web Services division.
Andy Jassy was born on January 13, 1968 in New York. After his graduation in MBA from Harvard College Jassy joined Amazon in 1997 as a marketing manager. In 2003, Andy came up with the idea to create the cloud-computing platform. The idea became Amazon Web Services (AWS). Jassy headed AWS since its inception in 2003. He led the AWS division with a team of 57 people. In 2016, Financial Times names Jassy as “Person of the Year”. Soon Jassy became the CEO of AWS from senior vice-president. He is the highest paid executive at Amazon. His base compensation in 2020 was US $175,000 plus a restricted stock unit award of 4023 shares of Amazon.
He deserves every bit of credit for architecting the company’s cloud vision, having run AWS since it’s inception. Andy’s tenure at AWS has also turned cloud computing into the most profitable of Amazon’s divisions accounting for approximately 63% of the company’s profits in 2020 and putting it on track to earn more than $50 billion in revenue this year. Amazon now controls about one-third of the entire cloud infrastructure market. Without AWS’s momentous growth, Amazon may not have had the resources to invest much money back into its retail, logistics, smart home, AI and other division over the years. AWS became the engine of Amazon’s continuous reinvention.
What to Expect from Andy Jassy?
Andy Jassy is a man of vision and his thoughts and principles has always been a part of what’s made Amazon successful. He is a core believer in Bezos’ business philosophies and a longtime veteran of the company.
With time rolling, Jassy has tailored himself as an heir apparent to Bezos. There are spinning tales of Amazon’s early days and the remarkable beginnings of AWS and how those lessons can be applied to other businesses. Jassy’s management quirks and persona have also become legendary within the organization. This is similar to Bezos’ infamous email style and meeting decorum. The future CEO of Amazon is known for his exhaustive attention to detailing and hands-on approach. He also has a penchant for back-to-back meetings and a welcoming embrace of social justice issues. He will no doubt be in charge of making even tougher calls in the future.
Jassy told at the all-digital Amazon re:Invent last December, “It is really hard to build a business that sustains for a long period of time. To do it, you’re going to reinvent yourself, and often you’re going to have to reinvent yourself many times over. ”
All the while, Jassy worked behind the scenes to ensure AWS grew into the profit machine it is today. Now after Jeff Bezos’ stepping down, Andy Jassy appears ready for a reinvention of his own. Amazon is still at the forefront of so many industries and continuing to explore new territory across the globe.
Jassy is no doubt the most potential candidate to take over from Jeff in terms of continuing to lead the organization down that path of tech-driven reinvention and disruption. His appointment as CEO of the parent company Amazon.com is a reward for a job that is well done.
