You may have heard that Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, is stepping down from his current role.
In this article, we’ll take a look at why one of the most successful business people in the world is taking a step back from his responsibilities. We’ll also look at what may lie ahead for Amazon and Bezos.
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How did Jeff Bezos start Amazon?
Jeffrey Preston Bezos founded Amazon 27 years ago and turned the business into a global superpower. He’s also managed to make himself one of the richest people in the world whilst doing so!
The company originally started as an online bookstore. Over the years, it’s expanded into just about every industry you can think of. Amazon was one of the few companies in the dot-com boom to actually survive and make it through to the other side of the crash.
Part of what has made Amazon so successful has been its ability to be original and take risks.
Why is Jeff Bezos stepping down as Amazon CEO?
You might be wondering why someone so successful has taken the decision to step down from their position of power.
Although Bezos will no longer be CEO, he’s not walking away completely. Instead, he’s going to be transitioning to the role of executive chair. This will make him more of a strategic adviser to the new CEO. This isn’t an unusual move. It’s something we have seen in the past from others like Bill Gates at Microsoft.
Sometimes, businesses can suffer from ‘founder’s syndrome’ (or ‘founderitis’). This is where the creator of the company is no longer the best person to run it but still holds a lot of influence. This decision has probably been made with the company’s interests at heart. Bezos believes it’s time for someone else to take the reins.
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Who is taking over from Jeff Bezos as CEO?
Andy Jassy will take over the role of CEO at Amazon. Jassy has been with the company since 1997 and his most important contribution has been creating and leading Amazon’s cloud computing platform ‘Amazon Web Services’ (AWS).
You may just think of Amazon as an online retailer, but its cloud services account for the majority of the company’s profits.
What will Bezos do now?
Stepping down gives Bezos the chance to focus on more personal projects such as:
- Space travel
- Fighting climate change
- Overseeing his newspaper, The Washington Post
Along with making himself rich, many investors buying shares in Amazon have also made a lot of money over the years. So we can’t blame him for putting himself first during the next period of his life.
How will these changes affect the company?
It’s likely there won’t be massive changes for the operating of Amazon. Bezos is still going to be sticking around to oversee things and the transition is likely to be smooth.
Sometimes, businesses can suffer when they lose a visionary leader, but Amazon is likely to have a lot of brilliant people shaping the future of the company.
It will be interesting to see how the stock market and investors react to this news. Only time will tell whether this is a smart move. Will it allow the company to keep growing? Or will Jeff Bezos be sorely missed as the company’s prime component?
