- Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will leave his post later this year, turning the helm over to the company’s top cloud executive Andy Jassy.
- Jassy joined Amazon in 1997 and has led Amazon’s Web Services cloud team since its inception.
- Bezos said he will stay engaged in important Amazon projects but will also have more time to focus on the Bezos Earth Fund.
Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos would step down as CEO and become executive chairman, as the company’s third consecutive record profit and quarterly sales above $100 billion for the first time, reports CNBC.
The transition, slated for the third quarter, will make current cloud computing chief Andy Jassy Amazon’s next chief executive officer.
Soaring net sales
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.
Mr. Bezos, who started the company 27 years ago as an internet bookseller, said in a note to employees posted on Amazon’s website, “As Exec Chair 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.”
Spike in online shopping
Since the start of the U.S. 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.
Record holiday sales
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.
Jassy’s Amazon Web Services (AWS), traditionally a bright spot, fell slightly short of expectations. While the cloud computing division announced deals in the quarter with Viacom CBS, 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.
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Source: CNBC
