After 27 years of creating excellence, Jeff Bezos has stepped down from his position as the CEO at Amazon. Over two and a half decades, the company has evolved into the largest and most valued e-commerce giant in the world.
From a bookseller startup to the world’s largest retailer, Amazon has progressed greatly under the supreme leadership of Jeff Bezos. Apart from heading the dot-com in the early years, Bezos also made expansion a pivotal part of his goals. The eCommerce giant now has an impressive hold over a variety of different businesses, including grocery stores, filmmaking, cloud computing, and fashion.
Andy Jassy, who single-handedly ran Amazon’s cloud computing business will be replacing Bezos, as per the company’s announcement in February. With Jassy stepping into Bezos’ shoes, the former CEO will take up the role of an executive chair, thus allowing him time to focus on new adventures and additional initiatives.
Jeff Bezos, the richest man on Earth had outlined several of his aspirations to employees back in February. While addressing climate change is on Bezos’ agenda, his current pursuit includes flying to space on a rocket built by Blue Origin, which is his own exploration company.
Although Jeff Bezos will be working on converting his dreams to reality, he will continue to remain Amazon’s largest shareholder. According to Amazon’s Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky, Bezos is “not going anywhere.” “It’s more of a restructuring of who’s doing what,” affirmed Olsavsky.
Meanwhile, Jassy will take ownership of a $1.7 trillion company that reaped great benefits from the pandemic itself. Not only did it triple its profits in the first quarter of 2021, but also broke existing revenue records as consumers increased their dependency on online shopping.
However, these profits come at a cost of their own. At present, Amazon’s corporate practices are under scrutiny by the Congress, Federal Trade Commission, and the Justice Department for taking undue advantage of its market leadership.
Additionally, complaints from Amazon drivers and several other workers have accused the company of severe ill-treatment and poor conditions in factories. Brad Stone, a renowned senior editor at Bloomberg News and the writer of two Amazon books has commended Bezos for possessing exceptional skills, but lacking empathy at the forefront.
Given these problems, Jassy will prove to play a monumental role in the development of the company thereafter. In the words of Stone, Jassy is not only taking over a successful eCommerce chain but also countering the “baggage that comes with it.” Thus, one prime challenge in Jassy’s tenure would be to change the perception of Amazon, from a hard-hitting e-commerce giant to a more friendly and empathetic company.
