Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said Tuesday that he will be stepping down as the CEO of the company. He will transition to the role of executive chair in the third quarter of this year. Bezos will be handing over the CEO role to the head of Amazon’s cloud division Amazon Web Services (AWS) Andy Jassy. Bezos informed his employees about his decision through an email.
In his letter to his employees, Bezos said that he intends to focus on new products and initiatives. Despite resigning as the CEO, the 57-year-old entrepreneur will still have his command on Amazon as he is the biggest shareholder in the company.
“I’m excited to announce that this Q3 I’ll transition to Executive Chair of the Amazon Board and Andy Jassy will become CEO. In the Exec Chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives. 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,” Bezos said in a letter to his employees.
Amazon based in Seattle, Washington, and is forming a second headquarters outside the US capital. Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos is the second richest person in the world with a net worth $185 billion.