Jeff Bezos Stepping Down As Amazon CEO
Jeff Bezos will step down as CEO of Amazon and transition to the role of executive chair, replaced by Andy Jassy.
Jassy, who is currently head of AWS, will transition into the role in the third quarter. The announcement was made in conjunction with Amazon’s Q4 results, in which it recorded net sales increases of 44% to $125.6 billion.
Operating income increased to $6.9 billion, up from the prior-year's $3.9 billion, and net rose to $7.2 billion in the fourth quarter, up from last year's $3.3 billion.
In a statement, Bezos called the company, which is the No. 2 retailer, as being at it's most inventive ever.
“Amazon is what it is because of invention. We do crazy things together and then make them normal. We pioneered customer reviews, 1-Click, personalized recommendations, Prime’s insanely-fast shipping, Just Walk Out shopping, the Climate Pledge, Kindle, Alexa, marketplace, infrastructure cloud computing, Career Choice, and much more,” said the retail executive.
“If you do it right, a few years after a surprising invention, the new thing has become normal. People yawn. That yawn is the greatest compliment an inventor can receive. When you look at our financial results, what you’re actually seeing are the long-run cumulative results of invention. Right now I see Amazon at its most inventive ever, making it an optimal time for this transition.”
