Amazon Announces Jeff Bezos Stepping Down as Chief Executive Officer

There are not many things that shock me, but hearing word of Amazon’s CEO transition did the trick. Jezz Bezos, Founder and CEO, will be stepping down from his position, making way for his successor.

“Amazon is what it is because of invention. We do crazy things together and then make them normal. We pioneered customer reviews, 1-Click, personalized recommendations, Prime’s insanely-fast shipping, Just Walk Out shopping, the Climate Pledge, Kindle, Alexa, marketplace, infrastructure cloud computing, Career Choice, and much more,” said Bezos in the company’s release. “If you do it right, a few years after a surprising invention, the new thing has become normal. People yawn. That yawn is the greatest compliment an inventor can receive. When you look at our financial results, what you’re actually seeing are the long-run cumulative results of invention. Right now, I see Amazon at its most inventive ever, making it an optimal time for this transition.”

The release noted that Bezos will step into his new role as Executive Chair in the third quarter of 2021 as Andy Jassy, who is the current CEO of Amazon Web Services, steps in as the new CEO.

The news came on the heels of Amazon’s fourth quarter results, in which it reported the following:

• Net sales increased 44 percent to $125.6 billion, compared with $87.4 billion in fourth quarter 2019. Excluding the $1.7 billion favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales increased 42 percent compared with fourth quarter 2019
• Operating income increased to $6.9 billion, compared with operating income of $3.9 billion in fourth quarter 2019
• Net income increased to $7.2 billion, or $14.09 per diluted share, compared with net income of $3.3 billion, or $6.47 per diluted share, in fourth quarter 2019

Deli Market News will continue to keep its eyes on the wire as this landmark CEO transition unfolds, so stay tuned.