Amazon founder Jeff Bezos officially stepped down Monday as the company’s CEO, handing the reins to Amazon Web Services executive Andy Jassy.
The retail giant announced the transition in a May shareholder meeting. Mr. Bezos will remain with the company as executive chair.
“In the Exec Chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives,” Mr. Bezos said in an internal email to Amazon employees in February. “Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have. He will be an outstanding leader, and he has my full confidence.”
Mr. Bezos served as CEO since Amazon’s founding in 1994. Monday marked the 27th anniversary of the company’s founding.
Mr. Jassy joined the company in 1997 and has led the Amazon Web Services division since 2003.
Amazon, which began as an online bookseller, has grown precipitously under Mr. Bezos’ leadership and now is recognized as the dominant online commerce platform and one of the world’s leading technology companies.
Mr. Bezos is the world’s richest man, having amassed a total net worth of $203 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
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