Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has announced a date to step down as CEO. He said that Andy Jassy will take over as the new CEO on July 5. Bezos, who made Amazon one of the largest companies in the world from an internet book store, said on Wednesday that Amazon executive Andy Jassy will take over the CEO role on July 5.
During an Amazon shareholder meeting Wednesday, Bezos said, "We chose that date because it's sentimental for me." He told that he started Amazon 27 years ago that date in 1994 Amazon was incorporated. It is noteworthy that Amazon announced in February that Bezos would step down as CEO but didn't provide a specific date.
Andy Jassy currently runs the company's cloud-computing business. However, 57-year-old Bezos will become the executive chairman of Amazon and focus on new products and initiatives. He has a personal fortune of USD 167 billion. He plans to pay special attention to the rocket ship company Blue Origin and his newspaper 'The Washington Post'.
Amazon on Wednesday announced the purchase of Hollywood studio MGM for $ 8.45 billion. The announcement has raised hopes that more shows and movies can be streamed on the company's video streaming platform.
In 1997, Andy Jassy joined Amazon as Marketing Manager. He started Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the year 2003 with 57 people. He was promoted to the position of CEO from the Senior Vice President of AWS in April 2016. Although Amazon is popular for its e-commerce business, the company's cloud services unit is currently one of the largest IT companies in the world.