Jeff Bezos has stepped down from the role of Amazon Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) CEO exactly 27 years after he founded the e-commerce and cloud services giant on July 5, 1994.
What Happened: According to Amazon’s investor relations website, Bezos has moved to the role of executive chair, while Andy Jassy is now the company’s president and CEO. Amazon had announced the management change in February.
Jassy founded Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2003 and served as its CEO from April 2016 until July 2021.
See Also: Amazon Remains Dominant Player In Cloud, But It's Losing Grip To Rivals
Why It Matters: Jassy’s appointment as CEO signals Amazon’s shift in focus towards cloud computing. In the first quarter, AWS revenue surged 24% year-over-year to $13.50 billion and represented more than 12% of Amazon’s total sales.
Under Bezos, Amazon has grown to become a $1.8 trillion company. Bezos also has amassed a fortune of more than $200 billion that has made him the wealthiest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Bezos is set to journey to space onboard the groundbreaking Blue Origin passenger flight on July 20.
Price Action: Amazon shares closed almost 2.3% higher on Friday at $3,510.98.
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Photo by Daniel Oberhaus on Flickr