Saturday, December 7, 2024

Jeff Bezos to step down as Amazon Chief Executive Officer

Jeff Bezos to step down as Amazon CEO; Andy Jassy named the new CEO

Jeff Bezos will step down as Amazon CEO and become the company’s executive chairman later this year. The transition, slated for the third quarter, will make Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) founder Andy Jassy Amazon’s next chief executive officer.

This, even as the e-commerce company reported its third consecutive record profit and quarterly sales above $100 billion for the first time in the December quarter of 2020. Net sales rose to $125.56 billion as consumers turned to the world’s largest online retailer for holiday shopping, beating analyst estimates of $119.7 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Bezos, who started the company 27 years ago as an internet bookseller, said in a note to employees posted on Amazon’s website, “As Executive Chairman I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions.”

He added, “I’ve never had more energy, and this isn’t about retiring.”

Amazon shares were up less than 1% in after-hours trading.

Jassy joined Amazon in 1997 and has a MBA from Harvard Business School, according to the company’s website. He founded Amazon Web Services (AWS) and grew it to a cloud platform used by millions, the company said.

Tom Johnson, chief transformation officer at Mindshare Worldwide, said Jassy’s promotion underscored the importance of web services to Amazon’s future. “Jassy’s background in steering AWS shows just how top of mind those services are to Amazon’s business strategy. It’ll be interesting to see how that affects their strategy and balancing that priority with a growing ad business and the commerce behemoth,” he said.

Jassy’s AWS, traditionally a bright spot, fell slightly short of expectations. While the cloud computing division announced deals in the quarter with ViacomCBS, the BMW Group and others, it posted revenue of $12.7 billion, short of the $12.8 billion analysts had estimated.

Amazon said it was not announcing a replacement for Jassy at this time.

Since the start of the US coronavirus outbreak, consumers have turned increasingly to Amazon for delivery of home staples and medical supplies. Brick-and-mortar shops closed their doors; Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, instead recruited over 400,000 more workers and posted consecutive record profits.

Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky told reporters on a conference call that costs associated with the pandemic in the first quarter are expected to total $2 billion, down from $4 billion in the fourth quarter.

With its warehouses open, Amazon had another record holiday, beating estimates for online store sales, subscription sales, third-party service sales such as warehousing and other sales to merchants on its platform.

A boost in revenue came from moving Amazon’s marketing event Prime Day — usually in July — to October, lengthening the holiday shopping season.

Editorial

Deloitte, PWC, EY, KPMG to Hire 1 Lakh People in India in FY25

According to estimates from top company officials and industry...

Higher EPS Pension Application Stuck: A Step-by-Step Guide to Fix

Nearly 97,640 Provident Fund (PF) members and pensioners under...

EPS-95 Higher Pension Update: Less Than 1% Cases Settled So Far

Supreme Court Ruling and EPFO’s Higher Pension Rollout The Employees’...

Working Hours in India: Key Laws Every Employee Must Know

Following the tragic death of EY employee Anna Perayil...

IT Industry: 5 Key Indicators of Revival in India’s Tech Sector

Based on the recent second-quarter Q2FY25 results released by...

Must Read

HC backs Court Order asking General Motors India to pay 50% wages to staff

As major relief to over 1,000 protesting workers of...

Ministry clears 20 food processing projects, to create around 12,000 jobs

Ministry clears 20 food processing projects, to create around...

Top Priorities for HR Leaders in 2022

"There are decades where nothing happens; and there are...

Genpact elevates CHRO Piyush Mehta as Country Manager, India

Genpact, a global professional services firm specializing in digital...

Govt considering 100% WFH for employees in SEZ units

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday...

Women Directors Surge; A Tripling Trend in Corporate India

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently highlighted a remarkable trend:...

Industry and Government Join Forces to Transform ITI Ecosystem

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) orchestrated...

Capgemini Walk-in Interview on Sept 14, 2024, Register Here

Capgemini, a leading global business and technology transformation company,...

Related Articles

SightsIn Plus
SightsIn Plushttps://sightsinplus.com/
SightsIn Plus is an India’s leading high-quality people-focused monthly HR Magazine and provides up-to-date HR News, Leadership Announcements, Best HR Practices and Insights by Global CHROs, CEOs, HR Advisors, Business Managers and HR Heads on topics of interest to HR professionals. To subscribe SightsIn Plus, HR Magazine please visit- https://sightsinplus.com/subscribe/