Amazon chief Bezos calls it a day

JEFF Bezos, who founded Amazon exactly 24 years ago on July 5, 1994, has officially stepped down and former AWS executive Andy Jassy has taken over as the CEO of the commerce behemoth.

On Amazon investor relations' website, Jassy is now listed as President and CEO of Amazon.com and also serves on the Board of Directors. Jassy founded and led Amazon Web Services (AWS) from its inception and served as its CEO from April 2016 until July 2021.

In May, Bezos had announced that Jassy will take over as the CEO of the e-Commerce giant on July 5.

The outgoing CEO said that he chose the date because July 5 is sentimental one for him. "It's the date that Amazon was incorporated in 1994, exactly 27 years ago," he had said. Jassy joined Amazon in 1997 and, prior to founding AWS, held various leadership roles across the company, including both business-to-business and business-to-consumer. It is estimated that about half of the company's revenue comes from AWS.

AWS, which is the Cloud arm of Amazon, logged a $54 billion annualised run rate - a 32 per cent year-over-year growth - in March quarter this year. Bezos is also the founder of aerospace company Blue Origin, which is working to lower the cost and increase the safety of spaceflight, and he is owner of the Washington Post. He has launched two philanthropic organisations. Bezos will fly to the edge of space along with brother onboard his company Blue Origin's tourism rocket - New Shepard - on July 20.

In a video uploaded on his Instagram profile, Bezos is heard saying that he and his brother Mark will be launching into space on July 20 aboard a rocket built by his space company Blue Origin. Bezos, who built an online bookstore into a $1.7 trillion technology empire reaching into space, announced in February he will be stepping down as CEO at the apex of his career to focus on innovations.