Jeff Bezos is stepping down as Amazon CEO today but his Instagram account shows he has plenty of other interests to occupy his time.
Amazon was founded in 1994 as an online marketplace for books in Jeff Bezos’ garage in Bellevue, Washington.
An October 2017 photo of Jeff Bezos at the Los Angeles Air Force Base Space and Missile System Center.
Billionaire Jeff Bezos has stepped down as chief executive officer of e-commerce giant Amazon, a company he founded exactly 27 years ago.
Bezos has handed over the reigns to Andy Jassy, who took over the Seattle-based company on July 5.
Amazon was founded in 1994 as an online marketplace for books in Bezos’ garage in Bellevue, Washington. Since then it has become one of the largest corporations in the world with a market capitalisation of over $1.7 trillion.
The company’s offerings have expanded over the nearly three decades, going beyond its online marketplace. Amazon now owns Prime Video, a streaming platform and Amazon Web Services, its hugely successful cloud computing platform.
“Being the CEO of Amazon is a deep responsibility, and it’s consuming. When you have a responsibility like that, it’s hard to put attention on anything else. As Executive Chair, I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions.”
His stepping down follows a growing trend of non-founder CEOs leading giant tech corporations in Silicon Valley. Think Tim Cook, Satya Nadella, and Sundar Pichai.
“Amazon couldn’t be better positioned for the future. We are firing on all cylinders, just as the world needs us to. We have things in the pipeline that will continue to astonish,” Bezos had said in his letter to employees in February.
