On Tuesday, Jeff Bezos announced he would be stepping down as Amazon CEO. Bezos, who founded the company in 1995, will begin his new role as “Executive Chairman” starting July 1st.
With his announcement, he stated he plans to focus on innovation, and that his new role will give him, “the time and energy [he needs] to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and [his] other passions.”
Bezos will be replaced by Andy Jassy, who joined Amazon in 1997 and is credited with developing the company’s cloud-computing business model. Jassy has been in charge of the company’s web development since the start as the Chief Executive of Amazon Web Services.
Although he is stepping down as CEO, Bezos will remain highly involved in the company while having time for his other projects.
Although some in the business world were worried about the economic effects of Bezos’ stepping down, Amazon’s stock price actually increased by 1.5 percent following his announcement.
Bezos–who was recently demoted to “Second Richest Person in the World” as Tesla CEO Elon Musk took the top spot–has not been without criticism for his business practices.
The company has received allegations of underpaying its workers and unsafe working conditions. Bezos was also called before the House Judiciary Committee in 2020 about the company’s practices.
Despite his rocky past, Bezos still asserts that the reason he is stepping down is to focus on other projects.
Amazon was founded in 1995 and is based in Seattle, Washington.
