Back in February, Jeff Bezos announced that he would be stepping down as the CEO of Amazon. Now he has actually done it.
“I’m excited to announce that this Q3 I’ll transition to Executive Chair of the Amazon Board and Andy Jassy will become CEO,” Bezos said at the time.
“In the Exec Chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives.”
It’s now Q3 and true to his word, Bezos stepped down as CEO, just in time to fight with Richard Branson over which would make it to space first.
Bezos will be flying to the edge of space on one of his Blue Origin rockets on July 20. And in a hilarious ‘fuck you’, Richard Branson will be going on a test flight beyond the Earth’s atmosphere on July 11, beating Bezos by a mere nine days.
Bezos first founded Amazon back in 1994 when it was a humble online book store. Originally run out of his parent’s garage, Amazon has grown to be one of the biggest companies in the world that helped shape e-commerce.
The eye-watering success of Amazon has made Bezos one of the richest men in the world — which is why he can afford to have billionaire space fights and invest in a 10,000 year clock.
Of course, Amazon has not been without criticism. It’s treatment of employees is well known, and serious questions have also been raised about its data collection practices.
But that hasn’t stopped the company from thriving, particularly during COVID-19 as more people relied on online deliveries.
As executive chair, Bezon will continue to be closely tied to the company. He is said to be dedicating time to the Bezos Earth Foundation, Blue Origin and the Day One Fund.