Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos has officially stepped down as the company’s Chief Executive Officer on Monday, exactly 27 years after he founded it.
Gatekeepers News reports that Bezos handed the role over to Andy Jassy, who joined the company in 1997 and has led its cloud computing platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS) since 2003.
Although, Bezos is just leaving his role and not Amazon itself. He is transitioning to the role of the executive chair – functioning as a kind of strategic adviser to the CEO.
“Jeff is not really going anywhere. It’s more of a restructuring of who’s doing what,” Amazon’s Chief Financial Officer, Brian Olsavsky told reporters.
With a total net worth of $203bn (£146bn), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the 57-year-old is now expected to devote more of his time to a handful of personal projects.
Among the most immediate adventures for Bezos is a launch with his private spaceflight company Blue Origin.
Gatekeepers News had reported that Bezos is scheduled to travel to space on 20 July and he will be joined by his brother, Mark; a mystery customer who paid $28m (£20m) for the seat in an auction; and 82-year-old Mary Wallace “Wally” Funk.
The Amazon founder also said he would be investing more of his time in fighting climate change and overseeing The Washington Post, the newspaper he owns.
