Jeff Bezos is stepping down as CEO of Amazon after 27 years.
On Tuesday the company announced that he will be transitioning to the role of executive chair during the third quarter of the year, the company said.
Andy Jassy, the chief executive of Amazon Web Services will be taking over as CEO.
Bezos called it “an optimal time for this transition” in a statement. He founded Amazon in 1994 as an online bookstore that transformed into the mega retailer that it is today. It is worth an estimated $1.6 trillion.
“I’m excited to announce that this Q3 I’ll transition to Executive Chair of the Amazon Board and Andy Jassy will become CEO,” Bezos said in a letter to employees, according to CNBC. “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.”
The Amazon founder plans to stay involved in some Amazon projects but will also be focusing more time on the Bezos Earth Fund, his Blue Origin spaceship company.
In April of 2019, Bezos and ex-wife MacKenzie Bezos announced the official end of their marriage with individual statements posted to their Twitter accounts.
The couple’s divorce is one of the most expensive celebrity divorces in history. With Bezos being one of the world’s richest men, their settlement left MacKenzie with a 4% stake in Amazon, making her the third richest woman in the world, according to Forbes.
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